China's pork imports more than doubled year-on-year in July to 430,000 tonnes, reaching a record monthly volume, customs data showed, even as tighter new controls on cargo have slowed port clearances.
Chinese importers have been buying large volumes of the meat this year due to a shortage of domestic supply after an epidemic of African swine fever killed millions of pigs.
Still, the data released on Sunday night was surprising, after many processing plants abroad had been forced to stop or slow production in previous months due to coronavirus infections among workers.
Imports in July exceeded the 400 thousand tons in June, which had been the highest in the year until then.
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“Considering that the US and Europe had suspensions or slower production in May, this is really incredible,” said Rabobank analyst Pan Chenjun.
China has asked overseas units since June to stop shipments if they have coronavirus cases among workers, even as experts say there is no evidence the virus can be transmitted through food.
The Chinese government also began testing frozen food containers for coronavirus, which slowed the release of goods at ports.
Between January and July, pork imports reached 2.56 million tons, compared to just over 1 million in the previous year.
Beef imports in July totaled 210 thousand tons, according to customs data, with shipments in the first seven months reaching 1.2 million tons.
Source: agrolink
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