Market News & Headlines >> China's October Pork Imports More Than Double

China's October pork imports were more than double a year earlier as wholesalers scrambled to find supplies with domestic production sharply curtailed after African swine fever decimated the country’s huge hog herd. 

October pork imports totaled 177,426 metric ton, up 9.6% from the previous month's 161,836 tons and up nearly 114% from a year earlier, according to data released on Saturday by China’s General Administration of Customs. 

Pork imports for the first ten months of 2019 stood at 1.5 million metric tons, up 49.4% from the same period a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs shows. The data is for muscle cuts and does not include offal and other non-muscle parts known as 'variety meats'. 

Imports of beef and chicken have also surged due to the drop in Chinese pork production. Customs data showed October beef imports at 150,829 metric tons, up 63.2% from a year earlier. Beef imports for the first 10 months of 2019 were up 54.5% from a year earlier. 

October imports of frozen chicken meat, at 66,921 tons, were up 3.2% from September and were up 66.4% versus a year earlier, according to customs data. Chicken meat imports for the first 10 months of 2019 were up 70.9% compared with a year earlier.