The outbreak of African swine fever in China that began last August continues to spread across the country and the fear is that it has now gone beyond the borders into neighbouring countries.

Bord Bia’s China office is monitoring attempts to bring the outbreak under control but in the absence of a vaccination this is proving exceptionally difficult. It has also been found in a wild boar meaning the virus has escaped off farm and in feed produced by one of the major feed companies.

China is by far the top global pigmeat producer with over half of the world’s sows in China.

It is also the meat of choice for most Chinese consumers even though beef has been growing in popularity among the Chinese middle classes.

This hit on the Chinese pig population is expected to drive further import demand as we go into 2019 as well as create further interest in beef.

The inability to bring the disease under control is now an immediate concern across southeast Asia, and the fear is it could spread even further to become a global issue for the pigmeat sector.