May 30, 2020

China not to buy US chicken amid COVID-19 recovery

In a reversal from a recent surge of imports, China will be out of the market for US chicken in June as it recovers from the COVID-19 crisis, the president of Sanderson Farms Inc said on Thursday, reported Reuters.

"China is out because they bought so much product," said Lampkin Butts, Sanderson's president. "They were anticipating their economy reopening, which it has, but the restaurants are not back to anything close to normal."

China lifted a nearly five-year ban on imports of US poultry in November after a fatal hog disease killed millions of pigs in the pork-loving country, raising its need to import meat.

Tensions between the US and China have increased more recently over Beijing's handling of the coronavirus outbreak.