PRESS ROOM
Strong returns for lean hogs while other commodities wobble
Monday 12th October '20
Agricultural and livestock commodities generally had another good month in September, but some stood out more so than others. Lean hogs have made strong gains of over 45% since the start of September (as of 12 October) leading the group by a wide margin and entering positive territory year-to-date. In 2019, African Swine Fever in China had cut the country’s pork production by 21.3%, and a further 19% loss in production happened in the first 6 months of 2020 (on a year-on-year basis). As a result, there has been a rapid rise in pork imports notably from the US and Spain. In the first 6 months of 2020, China imported 407,896 tons of pig meat and 130,061 tons of pork offal from the US, 503.3% and 85.6% increase respectively on a year-on-year basis (Source: IQC Insights). The most recent spike in lean hogs in September has been triggered by swine fever being discovered in Germany causing markets to speculate a similar effect on Germany's pork market as what happened previously in China.