Brazil’s pork industry has been rapidly expanding in recent years and it is now a large global producer and exporter. Brazil regained direct access to the Chinese market in late 2015 and with the number of Brazilian plants gaining approval to ship to China increasing in 2016 they now represent a key competitor to the UK and the EU for shipments there.

The increase in shipments on the year was largely driven by increased access to the Chinese market. In 2015 Brazil exported just 5,200 tonnes of pork to China, however in 2016 Brazil shipped more than 15 times this amount, with exports to China totalling 87,600 tonnes.

Furthermore, full year 2016 exports from Brazil to Hong Kong, increased by nearly 30 per cent on the year to 109,000 tonnes. The smaller markets also played a role in the overall annual increase, with shipments to other South American destinations such as Uruguay, Argentina and Chile all up on the year.

However in 2016, exports to Brazil’s largest market, Russia, remained relatively the same as 2015 at just under 236,900 tonnes, this led to the overall share of volume traded that Russia holds falling to just over a third compared to 50 per cent in 2015.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting that volumes remain above those seen in 2014 which was before the Russian import ban on pork from the EU, US and Canada.

The export value also increased on the year in 2016 by 18 per cent to reach R$4.65 billion compared to R$3.95 billion in 2015. The value of shipments to Hong Kong increased by 30 per cent on the year at R$773 million and the value of exports to China in 2016 were more than 17 times as much as 2015 at R$645 million. Nonetheless, the value of the volume shipped to Brazil’s largest market, Russia decreased 18 per cent in 2016 to R$1.8 billion.