The region risks exporting $120 million to China due to a new trade war over pork.

Spanish pork tends to be mainly supplied to China, which is also Murcia’s main buyer of pork, followed by Japan and France. More than €120 million was earned by regional traders from the supply of meat, processed or not, which totaled 53,252 tons in 2022, data from Interprofessional White-Caped Pork (Interporc) shows. This leaves an important export dependency relationship that, despite everything, is not going through its best moment.

The “boom” of sales to this Asian country occurred during the pandemic and African swine fever. In 2021, exports increased to 86,877 tons and the economic value almost reached 200 million euros. Following that 38.71% decline, the meat industry had already warned last year that the short-to-medium term outlook, following the good taste of sales three years ago, was “a potential reduction in such purchases from parts of China.” , which are already generating “worry” and “uncertainty” about the future of the sector in the region.

Now, with the new onslaught of the Chinese country, the scenario is only getting darker. “Trade wars benefit no one,” emphasizes Interporc CEO Alberto Herranz in an interview with LA VERDAD. “In 2022, Murcia exported 5% of pork in all of Spain,” generating an economic profit of 428 million euros with a production of 146 million tons. The representative of the employers’ association emphasizes the “good commercial relations” maintained so far between China and Spain, since our country is still a “reliable supplier” for a country “whose middle class is growing, and with it its purchases.” power.” “.

Daniel de Miguel, deputy director of Interporc, is not concerned yet. “It would be unfair to impose tariffs on China’s favorite protein because we help supply a staple product and we have good bilateral relations,” he analyzes. However, he admits that he is waiting and that such a measure would be harmful. After all, last year Spain exported pork and by-products worth 1.222 million euros to China, making it the second largest item after pharmaceutical products.

The solution for Herranz is to “diversify the market” in case a commercial counterattack escalates. “We have already gone through adaptation in exports” when the borders with Russia were closed. “We will be able to overcome the demands that China may impose on us, but we can continue to operate in the large markets of Asia,” he says. In particular, Murcia already supplies its pork to Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Wine may lag behind

According to data from two years ago, China generates global income for the Murcia region’s agri-food sector of 150 million euros. The vast majority are made from pork, but wine is another product that has its place in the eastern country. The Meat Business Association (Anafric) yesterday warned that “China is seriously considering retaliatory measures against EU agri-food products, particularly pork (including edible by-products), dairy products and wines (with a view to reducing the economic value of exports).

In 2022, Murcia exported broths worth almost four million euros, behind processed vegetable products at ten million euros. The damage will obviously be less than from the sale of pork, but the loss of the Asian route after the costs of opening and consolidating it does not please Murcian wineries.