Exporters reported the sale of 10,200 tonnes of U.S. pork to China during the week ending Aug. 8, the same period that China said it was shutting off purchases of American ag exports. The sales were listed in the USDA’s weekly Export Sales report, issued each Thursday.
China accounted for half of the week’s sales of pork for export, said the USDA. Roughly a quarter of U.S. pork is exported annually. The National Pork Producers Council, a farm group, says the trade war has reduced the opportunity for U.S. pork producers to fill the gap created by losses of Chinese hogs this year to the highly contagious African swine fever.
Some 158,000 tonnes of U.S. pork have been shipped to China since Jan. 1, but large sales, totaling 106,800 tonnes, are on the books but have not been exported.
Soy processors based in China purchased up to 15 shiploads of Brazilian and Argentine soybeans on Wednesday, said AgriCensus. The United States was “again frozen out of the buying,” said the market news service.