March 12, 2019
New Hope chairman does not see major impact from swine fever
China has been hit by a series of African swine fever outbreaks, but the chairman of Chinese feed producer New Hope Group does not see a major impact from the epidemic, Reuters reported.
Ahead of China's annual parliament meeting, Liu Yonghao told reporters that the company's feed-to-meat business is benefiting from higher chicken prices resulting from the outbreak of disease in pigs.
He also hoped the US and China would soon reach a deal on trade, with tariffs currently hurting farmers in both countries.
Beijing currently imposes 25% import duty on soybeans from the US, China's second-largest soybean supplier with shipments making up a third of China's total imports.
New Hope said last year that it would diversify its soybean sourcing by buying from Brazil, Argentina, the Middle East, Russia, India and South Africa.
On its animal feed business, Liu said that his company is actually benefiting from the pig disease as some farmers are now buying more feed from New Hope as they are confident the company's feed is not contaminated with the African swine fever disease.
In addition, Liu called on the Chinese government to increase corn import quotas to private firms and grant permits based on companies' output and demand.
- Reuters
