Difficult Chinese Market Raises Export Concerns

While the Chinese economy is still booming, its rate of growth is starting to slow. However a growth rate of around seven per cent a year is still the envy of most developed economies around the world.

However, despite a growing economy, report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Science (ABARES) has shown that while rice, wheat and pig meat are to remain the main focus for China’s self-sufficiency policy resource constraints are going to hold back its drive on beef, sheep meat soy and feed grains.

While China strives to increase production, it is still going to be a focus for major meat and commodity exports from around the world.

However, sometimes stocks can reach capacity and in the case of milk, dairy producers in China have been feeding milk to pigs and pouring milk away in some regions because supplies are so high.

This has also had a knock on effect on other major exporters around the world, who have found this market has now dried up.

While China is a lucrative market for m any exporters, it is also seen as a difficult one to break into and also maintain.

While the country struggles with its own cases of animal disease and biosecurity, it is still very strict on ensuring that imports only come from disease free regions.

This week, China announced that it was banning imports of poultry meat and products from the US because of concerns over an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.

China is a key export market for US chicken, turkey and duck products. From January through November last year, US exports to China reached nearly $272 million and the move has been described as unjustified as the US considers that a regionalised embargo would comply with World Animal Health Organisation regulations and also be more appropriate.