Brazil expects its meat exports to China to climb as African swine fever has heavily impacted China’s domestic pork supply, said Tereza Cristina Dias, Brazil’s agriculture minister.
The outbreak of African swine fever in China has killed about 200 million pigs, although it doesn’t pose danger to humans. It hurts the domestic pork supply and demand for animal feed, sina.com reported, citing international wires.
“We are going to sell our protein at $2,000 a ton, be it chicken, beef or pork,” said Dias.
Brazil is the world’s largest soybean exporter, while China is the largest importer. The potential increase in meat exports to China is expected to offset the negative impact from reduced soybean exports, which resulted from the decreased demand for animal feed in China.
Dias will visit China in May to defend Brazilian soy exports with Chinese officials, the report said.
US soybean exports to China plummeted last year after China slapped 25 percent tariffs on its exports on the oilseed. In the meantime, China sought out Brazilian beans. However, as US-China trade friction moves closer to an end, soybean exports have shown signs of a rebound, it said.