Customers purchase reserve pork in a supermarket in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, Dec. 22, 2019. (Xinhua/Peng Zhaozhi)

There are fears of higher meat prices in China now that some suppliers from major exporting countries such as Argentina and Brazil have suspended exports following the detection of the novel coronavirus, but other exporters are ready to supply the market.

"We are forecasting that beef imports will show an upward trend in July. Regarding the second half of the year, we expect a further strengthening of the market after the disruption caused by COVID-19," said a statement from the Uruguayan Embassy in China sent to the Global Times Thursday.

Uruguay's beef exports to China hover around 15,000-20,000 tons per month. All major Uruguayan slaughterhouses are registered to export to China and stand ready to expand their market share, the report said.

Eight meat plants in Argentina suspended exports to China after COVID-19 cases were detected among their workers, Argentina's food quality and safety body, Senasa, said Wednesday, according to a Reuters report.

Meanwhile, China has asked Brazil to suspend two meat factories from supplying the Chinese market, according to Reuters.

Previously, six other Brazilian meat processing plants were banned from exporting to China, the Global Times learned.

The suspension of imports from the meat suppliers in the two countries could further push up overall prices, which have been rising since last year due to the impact of African swine fever (ASF), analysts said.

Brazil supplies 60 percent of the imported beef in the Chinese market, followed by Argentina with around 10 percent. Other countries such as Uruguay and Australia also take big shares, according to the China Meat Association (CMA).

Domestic beef prices rose 22 percent in the first quarter of this year while pork prices up 170 percent due to ASF and the coronavirus outbreak, Gao Guan, deputy director of the CMA, told the Global Times.

Gao said that prices would remain elevated in the second half due to supply shortages.

"We may import more from suppliers in other countries," Gao said.

China has made great efforts to increase meat supplies. For example, data released by the General Administration of Customs Tuesday showed that China imported 2.12 million tons of pork in the first half of the year, up 140 percent year-on-year, and beef imports approached 1 million tons, up 42.9 percent.


Newspaper headline: China may adjust import sources to tackle meat prices