December 21, 2007

China's pork import price up by 38 percent

China's average pork import price was US$1.2/kilogramme, surging by 38 percent, and still cheaper than domestic prices.

The country imported 610 million tonnes of pork in the first ten months of 2007, surging by 3.1 times year-on-year, with the total value up by 4.3 times year-on-year to US$73.92 million.

The average wholesale pork price in 36 Chinese medium and large cities reached US$2.42 in July and then fell again and remained unchanged at approximately US$1.70.

Meanwhile, the pricier pork also pushed up the import of edible oils. From  January-October, China imported 6.965 million tonnes of edible vegetable oil for US$4.99 billion, growing 26.6 percent and 98.6 percent year-on-year respectively, according to Chinese customs.

During the period, the import of soy oil amounted to 2.217 million tonnes at average price of US$727.60 per tonne, jumping 80.9 percent and 44.9 percent respectively.

Analysts from the customs attribute this surge to the substitution effect of edible oil to pork oil. It is estimated that domestic pork oil output would drop 1 - 1.2 million tonnes, with current pork oil price surpassing US$1,222 per tonne.