African Swine Fever (ASF) continues to roil protein markets in Asia, especially China, and other parts of the world. The disease continues to spread and impacts are growing and very dynamic in nature.
According to a report at AGWeb, the epicenter of ASF is China which, as recently as 2018, produced nearly half of world pork production.
Estimates of hog losses since 2018 due to ASF in China range widely but most put the number at more than half of total hogs with some estimates up to 70-80% hog mortality.
Chinese imports of poultry meat are projected to increase 82.7% year over year in 2019 and another 20% in 2020 leading to a two-year increase of 119.3% in poultry meat imports in China.
In addition, Chinese beef imports are expected to increase 63.6% year over year in 2019 and another 20.8 next year.
