Strong Price Growth May Weigh On Pork Demand

 | May 24, 2016 09:29AM ET

Pork prices edged lower on Friday for the 5th straight day. Market participants worry the US retailers purchased more meat than needed. USDA reported a slight fall in slaughtered pork last week. Next week, on May 30, the Day of the Dead is celebrated in the US which opens the so-called summer BBQ season when the demand for meat picks up. Tough to tell whether this year is to be the same. Since last November the pork has risen in price by half in US.

In China, that is the world major pork importer, the pork prices have added one third since the start of 2016 mainly on tougher ecological legislation and resulting exit from the market of small-scale producers. The share of big firms with more than 500 swine rose to 45% last year up from 20% in 2007. According to US Meat Export Federation, the US pork supplies to China rose in Q1 2016 by 283%. China consumes about 60mln tonnes of pork a year while the volume of world trade in pork is 7mln tonnes. So even a slight imbalance of supply and demand of pork in China may have a huge influence on global prices. Last year imported 780 thousand tonnes which accounted for about 1.5% of national consumption. In theory, such a strong pork prices increase this year may weigh on demand.