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China food security: pork self-sufficiency push to raise demand for global grain stocks
- China’s self-sufficiency targets have been flagged since 2020 as part of Beijing’s food security goals
- The targets are likely to bolster overseas purchases of soybeans and feed grains needed to fatten hogs, cattle and poultry
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China’s reaffirmation of a long-term goal to be almost entirely self-sufficient in pork production means it will keep scooping up global grain supplies to feed the world’s largest pig herd.
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The country, which consumes half of the world’s pork, will maintain a target to produce 95 per cent of the protein at home until 2025.
It wants to be self sufficient in poultry and egg, 85 per cent for beef and mutton, and 70 per cent for dairy, the agriculture ministry said, adding that they form part of China’s food security goals.
The targets are likely to bolster overseas purchases of soybeans and feed grains needed to fatten hogs, cattle and poultry.
Imports of feed grain are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future as China begins to prioritise domestic production of meat and dairy
China is already the top importer of soybeans and corn, and has bought unprecedented amounts in the past two years to feed a hog herd recovering from African swine fever. The buying binge sparked a global price rally as investors were also worried about supply.
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“Imports of feed grain are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future as China begins to prioritise domestic production of meat and dairy,” said Darin Friedrichs, co-founder and market research director of Sitonia Consulting, a China-based agriculture information service provider.
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