China ramps up pork imports despite rising production

At the end of the first quarter, the number of live pigs was 430.94 million heads, up 2.0% year-on-year (+8.42 million heads), but 21.61 million heads down from the previous quarter.

•Chinese pork imports reached 530,000 tons in the first quarter, up 26% year-over-year. Including by-products, the volume increased to 820,000 tons (+21%). However, it should be noted that this increase was mainly due to January imports, which reached 220,000 tons of pork, as in February and March these imports fell to 160,000 tons and 150,000 tons, respectively, slightly higher than the previous year (130,000 and 140,000 tons in February and March 2022, respectively).