Russia has announced that it has sent pork to China for the first time since 2008 when the Chinese Government imposed a ban on Russian due to African Swine Fever.
Russia sent 27 tonnes of pork to China on Thursday, according to Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary service, Rosselkhoznadzor, Reuters reports.
“On March 7, the Rosselkhoznadzor monitored the shipment of the first batch of Russian-made pork to China with a volume of 27 tonnes,” Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement.
The shipment came after China lifted ASF restrictions, which had been in force against Russia since 2008, in September 2023. Rosselkhoznadzor said it had been trying to open up the Chinese market to Russian pork for some years
China is still by a long distance, the world’s biggest pork importer, despite its import volumes dropping in recent years as its herd recovers from its own ASF outbreak.
The biggest exporters of pork and offal to China are currently Brazil, Spain, Canada, the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands, but Russia is hoping to muscle in and secure 5% of that lucrative market, according to the Russian National Union of Pig Breeders.
Russia pork industry has been through a transformation, moving from being a net importer to being fully self-sufficient and exporting more than 250,000 toinnes of pork last year, 66% up on 2022, according to the agriculture ministry.
Trade between Russia and China – little affected by Western sanctions imposed on Moscow – has soared in recent year, hitting a record of $240 billion last year, Reuters reports.
The US Department of Agriculture said in January it was revising down its forecast for global pork production for 2024 by 1% to 114.2 million tons on lower output in China, the EU, and Brazil.
“Global pork exports for 2024 are lowered 2 percent from the October forecast to 10.2 million tons as the EU, United States, and Brazil increasingly compete for lower China imports,” the USDA said in January.