Chinese Pig Disease Could Impact Trade Talks, Analyst Says
There could be sporadic outbreaks with an insignificant national effect, Global AgriTrends’ Stuart.
(Bloomberg) -- African Swine Fever, which is currently spreading through northeastern China, has the potential to impact trade talks down the road if outbreaks of the deadly disease become widespread, according to Brett Stuart, founding partner of Global AgriTrends, a market intelligence firm focused on global agriculture.
It isn’t possible to predict with any certainty how the disease will spread -— there could be sporadic outbreaks with an insignificant national effect. But the density of hogs and the scale at which they are raised in China creates a serious risk, Stuart said. A widespread outbreak could lead to mass culling of hogs, and since imports represent about 3 percent of China’s pork consumption, even a 10 percent cull would have significant impacts on import needs.
China is the world’s biggest pork producer, consumer and importer. It boosted tariffs on U.S. pork to 37 percent in April and then to 62 percent in July.
"It’s not like they need the U.S.," Stuart says, noting that the European Union is a bigger exporter, supplying about 55 percent of the Chinese market, so the potential impact from the disease on trade talks wouldn’t be immediate. "But when you look at potential, it could get to a scenario where they consider lifting the duties."
To contact the reporter on this story: Deena Shanker in New York at dshanker@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net
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