Source: General Administration of Customs Website
According to Customs statistics, China imported 327,000t pork in the first quarter of the year with a value of USD 470 million, registering a growth of 570% and 800% over those of the same period last year. The mean import price is USD 1,446/t or a growth of 35.8%. In the meantime, China exported 58,000t pork, registering a drop of 47.6%. China had a net import of 269,000t pork in the first three quarters.
In September, China imported 23,000t pork with a value of USD 26.16 million, registering a growth of 120% and 100% respectively. The mean import price is USD 1,148/t, or a drop of 7.6% (please see the following figure). China exported 7,479t pork with a value of USD 25.33 million, registering a growth of 62.1% and 90.5% respectively. The main characteristics of imports are as follows:
I. Imports are primarily made through general trade. In the first three quarters of the year, China imported 319,000t pork through general trade, registering a growth of 550% and accounting for 97.6% of China’s total pork imports.
II. China imported pork mainly from the US and EU. In the first three quarters of the year, China imported 165,000t and124,000t pork from the US and EU respectively, registering a growth of 1520% and 510% respectively. The import volumes from both countries account for 88.4% of China's total pork imports.
III. Private enterprises account for more than 40% of China’s total pork imports and imports by foreign-funded enterprises have soared. In the first three quarters, private enterprises imported 146,000t pork, registering a growth of 270% and accounting for 44.6% of China’s total pork imports. Foreign-funded enterprises imported 110,000t pork, registering a growth of 97.1% and accounting for 33.6% of China’s total pork imports.
IV. Guangdong, Beijing and Jiangsu are the top 3 importers in terms of volume. In the first three quarters, Guangdong, Beijing and Jiangsu imported 180,000t, 93,000t and 13,000t pork respectively, registering a growth of 620%, 8820% and 68.9% respectively. The imports by the three provinces account for 87.5% of China’s total pork imports in the same period.
In order to guarantee pork supply and keep the domestic pork price stable, the Tariff Regulation Commission of the State Council issued a notice on the adjustment of some commodity import tariffs on May 28, 2008. From June 1 on, the import duty of frozen pork was reduced from 12% to 6% and that promoted pork imports to a certain extent. It is noteworthy that international financial capitals started to enter domestic pig-raising industry. Deutsche Bank invested USD 60 million to get 30% shares of Shanghai Hongbo Group. Overseas listing is also an aim in the course of fundraising. Considering that the domestic agricultural protective policies and relevant agricultural subsidy and welfare plan are not yet well-established in China and the recently promulgated “Anti-monopoly Law” does not cover agriculture that has a low degree of concentration, the impacts of foreign investments in this sector are still unknown.
Proposals (omitted)
