Japan: Pork production and trade forecast for 2023

In Japan, during 2022, pig slaughter amounted to 1,293,280 tons of carcass weight, 2% less than in 2021. Increased production costs led pig producers to finish fattening earlier to reduce costs of feed, resulting in a reduction in average carcass weight of just under 2%, to 78.3 kg. In 2023, production is forecast to increase by 0.5% to 1,300,000 tonnes carcass weight. Pork consumption is expected to continue to grow in 2023 as consumers prefer pork, which is cheaper than beef. Demand for frozen pork, which is mainly destined for food processing companies, will generate stable sales of processed pork products in 2023, but high opening stocks will result in lower imports. Imports of Japanese pork in 2022 amounted to 1,523,167 t, 7% more than in 2021. The growth of frozen imports was led by pork of Spanish origin, which was marketed at competitive prices. The increase in imports has meant that ending stocks in 2022 are 22% higher than in 2021. This ...