China expects surge in pork imports

Pork prices are likely to see "drastic" increases in 2019 in China due to African swine fever (ASF) and imports of pork are expected to rise more than 40% from last year and hit 1.7 million metric tons, according to a report released at the China Agricultural Outlook Conference. The conference is sponsored by the Agricultural Information Institute which is a part of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Xinhua said the report also indicated that the area planted to rice, wheat and corn will remain around 95.87 million hectares (237 million acres) in 2019, with soybean area to increase by about 666,666 hectares (1.6 million acres). The report said imports of cotton, edible oils, sugar and dairy products will continue to rise this year, but the Xinhua recap did not specify any tonnages.