In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the decline in exports of goods in general and a significant decline in Thai tourism in particular have pushed the Thai economy into recession.
In 2020, Thailand's total exports fell by 6%, but exports of pigs and pork products increased by 339% in value, of which live pigs and pork exports increased by 217% (up 675 million USD); chilled, frozen and processed pork increased by 69%.
In January 2021, live pigs and pork exports reached 65 million USD, up 34% compared to the previous year as Thailand is one of the few Asian countries that has not reported an outbreak of African swine fever.
According to the World Organization for Animal Health, since African swine fever broke out in Asia in 2018, more than 6.7 million pigs have died from infection or been culled, with Asia accounting for 82% of the total global losses from 2016 to 2020, far exceeding Europe and Africa.
According to the Thai Ministry of Commerce, pig herds in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam were severely affected. Of the live pigs that Thailand exported in 2020, the output went to Cambodia 61%, to Vietnam 26%, Laos 10% and Myanmar 3%.
African swine fever has also caused a shortage of pork in some markets such as China and Hong Kong. Thailand has replaced Laos to supply live pigs and pork to these markets. For the Hong Kong market, Thailand exports 95% of chilled and frozen pork, of which processed meat accounts for about 8%, so the pork market share in the Hong Kong market has increased to 14.2% from the previous 3.3%.
Pork exports are expected to continue to increase in both volume and value over the next two years until the pig herds in neighboring countries return to normal levels or when the African swine fever vaccine is widely available.
In an email interview, Phusit Ratanakul Sereroengrit, director general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office of the Thai Ministry of Commerce, said that pork and pork exports account for only 0.3% of Thailand's total exports, so the increase in pork exports is still not enough to offset the decline in other products. But Mr Phusit expects shipments of pork and other food products to continue to rise this year as the government pushes Thailand to become “the world’s best quality food producer” and expand its share of the global food market.
The Thai Commerce Ministry aims to boost exports of “future foods” such as organic foods, health foods and plant-based foods. The economy is expected to grow 2.5%-3.5% this year, according to the National Economic and Social Development Council./.
According to khuyennongvn.gov.vn