Declining EU pork production creates opportunities for U.S. gains

Published May 10, 2023

Tridge summary

The article highlights a strong first quarter for U.S. pork exports, with a 14% increase in volume and a 15% increase in value compared to the previous year. This growth is largely due to challenges in the European Union's pork industry, which has led to tight supplies and higher prices, providing opportunities for U.S. pork to increase its market share in several key regions. These regions include China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and Oceania. However, the U.S. pork industry faces challenges in Taiwan due to negative publicity from the lifting of the ban on pork produced with ractopamine. Despite these challenges, there has been renewed interest in U.S. pork in Taiwan for 2023.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

U.S. pork exports posted a very strong first quarter, increasing 14% from a year ago to 716,691 metric tons, while export value climbed 15% to $1.963 billion. One of the factors making 2023 a promising year for U.S. export growth is the pork situation in the European Union, where the industry has been facing mounting production challenges, and significant financial losses have contributed to tightening supplies and rising hog and pork prices. As detailed in USDA's recent GAIN Report, the EU swine herd declined by more than 5% in 2022, with the most significant reductions occurring in Germany, Denmark, France and Poland. While the rate of decline was more moderate, swine herd reductions were also seen in Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The only exception among EU member states was Italy, where the swine and sow herd increased in response to a rebound in demand for cured meat. While EU pork and pork variety meat exports ...

Source: NationalHogFarmer