Pig Shorts Get Slaughtered: Pork Prices Are Soaring Around The Globe
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 04/18/2019
One month after we reported that US federal agents seized 1 million pounds, or 454 metric tons, of pork smuggled from China to the same port amid growing fears the meat could contain traces of the African swine fever virus that has ravaged the Asian country’s hog herd, and which has sent pork prices soaring, the pig panic has gone global and as Bloomberg writes, as a result of the crippling virus that has decimated China’s hog industry, everything from barbecue to chorizo and German bratwurst will be sharply move expensive in the coming months.
With Chinese pigs getting slaughtering left and right to contain the Arrican swine fever, so are port shorts as meat processors around the world scramble to sell more pork to China to make up for sharp shortages of China’s most popular protein. The consequence is tighter supplies in the U.S. and Europe, which is pushing up prices. And as the disease continues to spread throughout China – the world’s largest producer and consumer – the trend will only get worse.
Case in point: US retail prices for boneless hams hit $4.31 per pound in March, the highest since 2015.
In the European Union, wholesale pig prices have climbed 16% in two months, while lean hog futures traded on the CME are higher by 32% since the February lows.
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