Pork exports up 22 per cent as industry pushes to reduce costs and maintain local market share

Australian pork exports are booming as demand from Singapore continues and minor increases in trade to Vietnam and the Philippines help push the figures to a total of 24,615 tonnes shipped weight from January to October.

According to Department of Agriculture figures the total pork amount shipped to Singapore reached 12,619tsw, followed by 3312tsw to the Philippines and 2477tsw to other areas of Asia.

WA was the major exporter of pork with a total of 9668tsw sent as of the end of October, followed by NSW at 6163tsw. The totals do not include the amount of “fancy meats” that have been exported.

Australian Pork Limited chief executive Margo Andrae said while prices for producers had been “stable” the total amount of “exports are up” by 10,000t — for the 12 months from 38,000t in August 2022 to 48,000t in August 2023.

“Exports make up only 10 per cent of production,” Ms Andrae said.

“In the last four to six months we’ve seen a 22 per cent rise (against the five-year average).”

She also highlighted to them the “strict animal welfare” regulations on the industry and the work being undertaken to improve environmental outcomes.

The reason Singapore had increased its imports of pork was because of the discovery of African Swine Fever from among pig carcasses removed from an abattoir line from a consignment of live pigs from Pulau Bulan, Indonesia.

The trade from Indonesia, which contributed about 15 per cent of total imported pork into Singapore, was stalled while the island State imported more from Australia, Brazil, Denmark and New Zealand to make up the difference.

At the same time as Australian exports have risen, imports of ham and bacon from mainly North America and Europe have dropped by 25,000t.

“Imports are down from 187,00t in 2022 to 162,000t in 2023,” Ms Andrae said.

The combination has seen prices stabilise for pig producers and given confidence to the industry.

WA Pork Producers Association president Linton Batt said the increase in demand for pork by Singapore was “a welcome boost for the WA market” and has enabled “confidence among producers to be maintained”.

“Producers are, however, faced with many other challenges such as rising fuel and energy costs, increases in insurance, interest rates and massive input costs, all of which are having a huge impact on farm gate returns,” Mr Batt said.

Ms Andrae said input costs for farmers were high, especially for “grain, feed and labour”, which was having a “significant” impact on increased profitability.

She said as a way to mitigate against those rising costs the industry was looking at ways to reduce input costs by turning food waste into a pelletised food source for pigs as an alternative feed source.

The industry was also researching how to reduce waste off farms and working with researchers and manufacturers to better know how to use the whole pig carcass in order to capture alternative markets.

Ms Andrae said APL was focused on ensuring that pork products were something that consumers could afford and would include in their shopping baskets on a regular basis.

“We have a new Pork On Your Fork campaign coming out mid next year to encourage consumers to buy Australian pork,” she said.