November 18, 2011

On November 24, China will receive its first Brazilian pork shipment from Marfrig Alimentos, the company said Wednesday (Nov 16).

The Chinese market was opened to Brazil's pork in May, when facilities controlled by Marfrig, BRF Brasil Foods, and Aurora, were authorized to sell pork to that Asian country. The move came a month after Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff visited China.

China is both the world's largest pork producer and consumer.

Also in the wake of Rousseff's visit, the Chinese earlier this year agreed to buy chicken from another 25 Brazilian producers, doubling to 50 the number of local plants certified to export to China. Another five Brazilian beef producers were also certified.

In 2010, Brazilian meat exports to China totalled US$225.6 million, of which US$219.6 million came from chicken.

China has also been the main buyer of Brazilian farm goods since 2008, with imports jumping to US$11 billion last year from US$3.5 billion in 2007.