UK pork sales set to jump as swine flu kills 25% of Chinese stock

UK firms selling pork products, including the likes of Cranswick, could be set to see another jump in sales in 2020, as African Swine Fever continues to take its toll on pig stocks around the world.

By one estimate, Chinese pig farms had lost as much as a quarter of their stock, sending pork exports to China bounding higher.

UK pork exporters were anticipating that sharply higher demand from China would extend into 2020 as the virus continued to impact the local stock of the animals - threatening a staple food of the Chinese diet.

In the first eight months of 2019, Britain shipped more than 45,000 metric tons of pork to China according to industry observers, almost twice the 2018 volume.

The UK’s biggest pork producer, Tulip, told CNBC in an email sent on 13 December that its abattoirs that export to China have saw their sales jump by around 80.0% year on year.

When asked if high prices were likely to persist, Saunders said: “We expect this to continue into 2020.”

Another top UK producer, Cranswick reported a 7.1% rise in six-month sales in November “underpinned by a very strong performance in our Far East export markets.”

Shares of Cranswick were trading 2.21% higher as of 1621 GMT at 3,332p and were near record territory.