On November 26, African swine fever (ASF) was confirmed in Spain for the first time since 1994, which is now impacting the pork market around the world.
“Spain is a top global exporter of pork, and they are also the largest producer of pork within the European Union,” says Erin Borror, Vice President for Economic Analysis with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).
The virus has been found in wild boars near Barcelona—which is in the Catalonia region of northeastern Spain. That region accounts for about 8 percent of Spain’s total hog production.
One thing that will help Spain minimize its losses is that the country has set up regionalization agreements with China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the EU. That means Spain will still be able to continue its pork exports for those hogs produced outside of the affected area near Barcelona.
“I think Spain is really a success story and something that the U.S. industry should aspire to because they were very quickly regionalized,” she says. “Spanish authorities and European Union (EU) authorities agreed on that regionalization literally within days.”
However, Japan, Malyasia, and Mexico are among the countries that have recently shut off all pork exports from Spain.
In the meantime, Borror adds that those closed markets may provide some incremental export opportunities for U.S. pork.
“Their second largest destination after China is Japan. There should be some opportunities for U.S. pork into Japan—mostly frozen pork loins. For Malaysia, I am optimistic again with there for potentially a mix of cuts, and just given the limited facilities eligible globally to supply that market, there should be some incremental business for the U.S.,” according to Borror.
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