China opens anti-dumping investigation on EU pork.

On Monday, June 17th, the Chinese commerce ministry announced the launch of an anti-dumping investigation on pork meat intended for human consumption, including fresh, chilled and frozen whole cuts as well as by-products. China remains one of the EU’s key trade partners for pork meat and by-products, with exports to China making up 28.4% of the total EU pork meat exports in 2023, according to the European Commission. Roughly half of the approximately $6 billion worth of China's pork meat imports are supplied by the EU, outweighing the supply from other key exporters such as the USA, Brazil and Canada. Following the announcement of the investigation, Spain called for a negotiation with China to avoid the implementation of an export ban, as Spain alone supplied about a quarter of China's total imports in 2023.

Multiple market sources indicated that this would have a severe impact not only on the trade flows but also on the supply and demand balance in Europe and China. One market source commented, “If China adds import duties or implements a ban on EU pork, we would be facing a severe oversupply in the EU pork market, and it will be nearly impossible to find alternative markets for these volumes. However, on the other side, this will tighten the supply in the Chinese market significantly and could result in a shortage of pork meat on the Chinese market as it seems unlikely other exports could fill the gap created by the ban on EU exports.”

With the start of the investigation on June 17th, the measurements the Chinese government will implement remain to be seen; however, the international pork market continues to follow this closely as it could significantly impact the global pork supply and trade dynamics. ?

Mintec will continue to monitor the market situation closely during the coming weeks and will follow up with any news regarding the pork market. If there are any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly.

Sandro Schulz Mintec EMEA Protein Team Lead

+49 15510 096845 [email protected]