MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Japan, China, South Korea ban pork imports from Germany; Spain, US and Brazil expected to benefit

Pork imports of 40,240 tons from Germany last year accounted for 3.3% of Japan's total imports of 1.2 million tons of the meat, the ministry said

Japan suspended imports of pork and live pigs from Germany after a case of African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in a wild boar in eastern Germany, the agriculture ministry said.

China and South Korea also banned such imports after Germany said last Thursday that ASF had been found in a dead wild boar near its border with Poland.

Japan's action aims to keep out the disease, the ministry said in a statement.

Pork imports of 40,240 tons from Germany last year accounted for 3.3% of Japan's total imports of 1.2 million tons of the meat, the ministry said. Japan did not import any live pigs in 2019, down from six in 2018.

The ban on Germany, which has supplied about 14% of China's pork imports so far this year, will push up demand for meat from other major suppliers like the United States and Spain, boosting global prices.

German exports to China are worth about €1 billion annually, and volumes had doubled in the first four months of this year on soaring demand after Chinese output shrank around 20 per cent.

The move is expected to benefit other major suppliers like the United States, Spain and Brazil.

“Spain's white pig sector is fully prepared to continue its growth trend in sales of safe and quality pork products to the Chinese market,” Daniel de Miguel, international director of trade body Interporc, said on Friday ahead of the ban.

Unlike other European countries, Spain has not had to shut any pork processing plants due to COVID-19 outbreaks in recent weeks, he added.