With prices around 29.20 pesos per kilo (67 USD cents/lb) average liveweight, Mexican pig producers are doing not too bad. While domestic consumption has remained unchanged the Mexican export pork market has gained some ground.

Exports

China - Shipments of pork from Mexico to China increased by 283 percent between January and June 2019 compared to the same period of 2018, according to figures from the Mexican Meat Council (Comecarne). The volume is small, but in percentage it has increased, since so far this year about 5,000 tons of pork have already been exported to China and this figure exceeds all those reported in the last three years.

As reported in previous reports, over the last three years this trend has been recorded in shipments of pork to China, with a considerable increase, since in 2016 they represented less than one percent of the total, while in 2019 it is already 6.1 percent.

The information arises at a time when Mexico prepares to conduct simultaneous ASF emergency simulations throughout the country between September 24 and 26 to precisely review the health protocols in case the ASF arrives in the Americas. This mega-simulation has the purpose of evaluating the systems of rapid response to health emergencies. In addition, all the people involved must know precisely how they should act, as well as the measures they must take to quickly control and eradicate the disease from the country.

The objective is to promote the coordination and exchange of information among the actors related to the health emergency. Likewise, assess the human and material resources to improve the capacity to respond to emergencies, in case the outbreaks of African Swine Fever appear in the country.

From the general direction of the Confederación de Porcicultores Mexicanos (CPM - Confederation of Mexican Swine Producers) by Alejandro Ramírez González, it was reported to porcicultura.com that the growth of exports of domestic pork is to stand out, since in previous years the increase remained between five and six percent, during the first five months of this year, the increase was 21.9 percent; until the end of May, shipments were reported in the order of 62,730 tons.

Ramírez González said that the index of international shipments is expected to increase even more over the coming months.

Regarding the value, the Agricultural Market Consulting Group (GCMA) reported that considering the months of January to June, international shipments, which according to the agency reached the figure of 80,734 tons, reported revenues of $312,126 USD, a growth of 17.2 percent.
Imports

EU - European Union aims to substitute imports of pork from the US in Mexico via the Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and the European Union, the block seeks to enter the game and compete against pork that Mexico buys from the United States and Canada.

In Mexico, almost 8.8 million tons of meat were consumed in 2018, however, national production in that same period reached 6.9 million tons, so the country imports these products from its North America neighbourhood. Given this, the European Union wants to get into the game and replace American and Canadian meat exports with the new rules negotiated in the modernisation of the Free Trade Agreement between Mexico and the European Union (TLCUEM).

Imports

The general director of the CPM said that in the case of imports, the trend between January and May of this year was down, as the country bought 335,630 tons of pig meat, this would represent a 7.4 percent reduction compared to the last year.

The most significant part in this area would be that corresponding to the carcasses or half carcasses; here the increase was 36.9 percent, importing 2,340 tons, compared to 1,710 that were acquired in the same period of 2018.

In 2018, meat imports from Mexico reached 2.26 million tons, an increase of 5.2 percent, compared to 2017, according to data from the Mexican Meat Council.