COFCO, China’s state-owned agriculture conglomerate, has agreed to buy US$100 million ($78.1m) of pork from European pork producer Danish Crown in 2020 to help ease its domestic pork shortage, following the devastation caused by African swine fever.
Reuters reported that the two companies signed a preliminary purchase agreement on the sidelines of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai.
COFCO said in a statement the deal would help it to diversify the origins of its imports and product variety, and make purchases more sustainable.
Lars Albertsen, sales director at Danish Crown, said no volumes had been agreed yet, but he said the sale was “one of the biggest deals we’ve done out here in a long, long time”.
He said it could be expanded, given the huge needs from China.
“There’s a shortage of pork so the likelihood is that it will become more,” he told Reuters.
Europe’s top pork exporter, Danish Crown has done several deals with COFCO this year, turning it into a preferred supplier, said Mr Albertsen.
