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Canada’s focus on China creates new opportunities for U.S. pork

An industry leader says Canada’s focus on China has opened up new opportunities for U.S. pork producers.

Minnesota Pork Producers Association executive director David Preisler tells Brownfield Canada currently exports more pork to China than the U.S.

“What that’s created, though, is other markets that Canada was serving (are now open) for us to fill.”

He says the U.S. is gaining market-share in South Korea, as well as Central and South America.

Preisler does expect China to remain a prominent customer of U.S. pork going forward.

“China is still a huge market just because of their population, so I think there’s still long-term promise there.  But we’re just going to have to take that as it goes and take advantage of every market, not just China.”

Canada’s pork sales to China have escalated quickly this year, shipping more than 102,000 tons in the first quarter. By comparison, the U.S. shipped about 96,000 tons.