December 26, 2017

Global meat production seen to have risen 1% in 2017

After stagnating in 2016, world meat production is expected to have increased by just over 1% to 324.8 million tonnes this year, according to the latest FAO food outlook including the latest forecast for how the global meat industry developed in 2017.

The slight hike is due to moderate increases in bovine, pig and poultry meats and a modest gain in ovine meat. After two years of downsizing associated with an ongoing process of reforms, meat production in China, the world's largest meat producer, is expected to have remained stable around the 2016 level, the outlook report said, as reported by the UK AHDB Pork.

Expansions in Chinese ovine, pig and bovine meats are anticipated to compensate for a marked decline in poultry meat, constrained mainly by the spread of avian influenza.

World pig meat output is forecast to have risen 1% to nearly 117 million tonnes in 2017, recovering from a slight decline in 2016 and setting a new record. Expanded output was seen to have originated in China, the US, Russia and the Philippines, as well as Canada, Vietnam, Mexico and South Korea.

However, pig meat output is likely to have declined in the EU, Ukraine and Japan.

China's pig meat output will have risen over 1% to nearly 53 million tonnes, reflecting a largely positive outcome of strict environmental and sanitary regulations. In the US, pig meat output is seen to have risen almost 4% to 11.7 million tonnes, bolstered by higher slaughter numbers and carcase weights. These have been supported by expanding operations integrated with those of Canada and Mexico.

In contrast, EU pig meat production is likely to have stabilised at around 23.4 million tonnes, constrained by reduced sow herd numbers and falling import demand, especially from China.