China is facing a "pork in the road", said the Daily Pnut newsletter.
The country has opened an investigation into pork imports from the EU in its "first retaliatory move" against Brussels' latest tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, said Semafor. The EU had been "bracing for Beijing's tit-for-tat response" amid escalating trade tensions.
The Commission said it was "not worried" by Beijing's announcement, denying the accusation that the bloc was exporting pork at a lower price through unfair subsidies last year. But the anti-dumping probe is expected to hit Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain (the largest supplier of pork to China) particularly hard. Last year pig meat accounted for 17% of EU agri-food exports to China, said Euractiv.Â
With a population of more than 1.4 billion China is "by far the world's largest pork producer, consumer and importer", said Statista in December. Pork "dominates" the Chinese meat market, accounting for more than 50% of domestic meat consumption in 2022. A "push for more production" led to China's pig numbers swelling to "the point of overcapacity", said the Financial Times.
The price of pork – the "most important component" of China's consumer price index – has "fallen drastically as a result", exacerbating the deflation that has "pressured Beijing for the past six months".
Any restrictions on EU exports could benefit suppliers from the Americas while Russia, "increasingly a close trading partner of China" and since February its latest pork supplier, could also "step up meat shipments", said Reuters.
"A full suspension of EU pork exports to China would be a potential nightmare scenario for the pork supply chain", said Justin Sherrard, global strategist on animal protein at Rabobank, "with implications across the EU".
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