Canada has become the biggest beneficiary of the pork shortage in the Philippines

The death of more than three million domestic pigs due to African swine fever (ASF) led to a sharp increase in pork imports to the Philippines in the first half of 2021.

The Danish Agri-Food Federation (L&F) recently reported that imports of pork products to the Philippines, including by-products, increased by just over 178,000 tons to 239,000 tons compared to the first half of 2020, i.e. grew four times. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that purchases are expected to rise to 425,000 tons by the end of the year, making the island nation the world's sixth largest pork importer.

Due to production losses caused by animal disease, the Manila government has reduced import duties on pork to slow down price increases. Despite the government saying that ASF is being gradually brought under control, this year's pork production of about 1 million tons is likely to be about 40% below the level before the animal disease outbreak in mid-2019.

The main beneficiary of the pork shortage in the Philippines is Canada, which increased pork exports in this direction by 280% to 56,160 tons compared to the first half of 2020. The largest share of shipments was made up of fresh and frozen pork. Canada is followed by Spain (53,420 tons, +181%) and the USA (34,880 tons, +346%)

A number of EU member states, including Denmark, France and the Netherlands, sold noticeably more pork to the Philippines in the first half of 2021, making the island nation the second largest consumer of European pork after China . Pork sales from the EU have more than tripled to 185,180 tonnes, according to the Brussels Commission.