The prospect of a shift towards more “lower-valued” pigmeat products being imported by China is one of the possibilities being considered by a leading market analyst following another devaluation of the yuan, the country’s national currency, which was cut today for the second day running.
Asked by Pig World for a view on the pork trade implications of China’s currency turmoil, Rabobank senior analyst, Chenjun Pan, said the latest move certainly added a lot of “unexpected pressure” concerning EU pork exports to China.
“However,” she continued, “the fundamental thing is the tight supply of the pork market in China, meaning that the country will continue to need to import pork to fill the supply gap in its domestic market.”
While expecting that imports will “definitely slow down”, while China’s volatile currency devaluation remains unclear, she believes imports will recover later.
“As the domestic supply (of pigmeat) remains under demand in China, both in 2015 and the first half of 2016, imports will continue once the currency stabilises,” said Ms Pan (pictured above).
“The structure of imports may be impacted, however, by a shift towards more lower-valued products.”
