China remains absent from U.S. pork market

The USDA says China did not buy any U.S. pork during the week ending May 1st. That’s the fifth week in a row China has not purchased U.S. pork, at least partially due to the ongoing tariff dispute between the world’s two largest economies. U.S. and Chinese representatives are scheduled to meet this weekend to discuss trade, but it’s unlikely there will be much progress in this early round of negotiations. Beef, old crop wheat, old crop soybeans, and soybean meal export sales were also down on the week. The USDA’s updated supply and demand numbers are out Monday, May 12th at Noon Eastern/11 Central.

Physical shipments of corn were more than what’s needed to meet projections for the current marketing year. The 2024/25 marketing year got underway June 1st for wheat, August 1st for cotton and rice, September 1st for beans, corn, and sorghum, and October 1st for soybean products. The marketing year for beef and pork is the calendar year.

Wheat came out at 69,700 tons (2.6 million bushels), down 3% from the week ending April 24th, but up noticeably from the four-week average. Mexico purchased 37,300 tons and the Philippines bought 24,500 tons. With less than a month remaining in the 2024/25 marketing year, wheat exports are 787.1 million bushels, compared to 692.2 million in 2023/24. Sales of 493,000 tons (18.1 million bushels) for 2025/26 delivery were mainly to unknown destinations (183,500 tons) and South Korea (100,800 tons).