USDA corrects global pork production from Jan 2023 estimate In its April 2023 issue, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) corrects its Jan estimate for global pork production to 114.3 Mt (previous year 114.58 Mt). In particular, cuts were made in the EU-27, Canada and South Korea, as well as in a number of small producing countries. In China and the USA, production estimates were increased only slightly. Stronger increases were noted for Russia and Vietnam. Overall, global production is only just at the previous year's level. Global pork trade decreases by -3.4% on the export side. The EU-27 is particularly affected by this, with a decline of -10.3%. Canada also has to cut its exports by -3.5%. The US is expected to keep its trading volumes about the same. Brazil, on the other hand, is continuing to increase its exports. The South American country has doubled its exports to 1.4 million tons in the last 6 years. On the import side, China increased its imports again to 2.2 million t compared to the previous year with 2.12 million t, but remains far behind the peak year 2020 with 5.3 million t. Japan is also buying with 1.47 milliont less than 2022 with 1.55 million t. The high feed and energy costs have left their mark with varying intensity in all production areas. Pork price forecasts remain well above multi-year averages in almost all regions. The exception is China due to earlier ASP-related price highs. Prices in the EU are well above the level of the competing exporting countries, with corresponding consequences for export sales.
