Canada’s sales to the Asian country have seen a major jump this year as its currency struggles against the U.S. dollar
WINNIPEG — Thanks to a currency advantage, Canada’s pork exports to Japan have exploded in 2024.
In the first five months of the year, Japan imported $625 million worth of pork from Canada.
That’s up from $358 million in sales during the same period in 2023, which means exports have jumped 75 per cent in value, based on data from Agriculture Canada.
Read Also
Ag In Motion 2025 site hub of activity
day before Ag in Motion preview.
Most of the increase can be attributed to chilled pork, said Trevor Sears, president and chief executive officer of Canada Pork, the market intelligence and promotional organization for the pork industry.
“Chilled pork to Asia only really comes from the U.S. and Canada,” he said. “We’ve kind of taken over first place (in Japan) in the last year.”
The Japanese yen has struggled the last couple of years, dropping 25 per cent in value relative to the U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2022.
The yen also declined relative to the loonie, but not quite as much.
“The yen is weak against the Canadian dollar…. but it’s weaker against the U.S. dollar,” Sears said.
“We probably have a five to 10 per cent advantage on currency (in Japan), compared to where we were a couple of years ago.”
Canadian pork is also having a good year in other East Asian countries.
From Jan. 1 to the end of May:
Exports to South Korea were $177 million, which is up 107 per cent in value from 2023 and 82 per cent in volume.
Exports to Vietnam were $20.1 million, an increase of 368 per cent in value and 215 per cent in volume over 2023.
Overall, pork exports are up 9.1 per cent in volume this year.
That’s a bit unusual because hog numbers have declined in Canada.
“Canadian hog producers reported 13.8 million hogs on their farms on Jan. 1, 2024, down one percent from the same date one year earlier,” said the Agriculture Canada livestock inventory report, published this winter.
Quebec pork plant closures and herd reduction in that province dragged the inventory down.
However, Canada had a strong pig crop in the second half of 2023.
“The pig crop… rose to 14.9 million from July to December 2023, a two per cent increase compared with July to December 2022,” Agriculture Canada said.
An excellent pig crop, however, doesn’t explain a nine per cent increase in pork exports.
It’s possible that imports and less pork at Canadian dinner tables allowed pork processors to increase exports in 2024.
“I think domestic consumption might go down this year,” Sears said, explaining that Canadians consumed more pork during COVID and in the post-pandemic period of high inflation.
“(It) went up three years in a row,” he said.
“Last year it went up (about) 14 per cent…. It’s been on a pretty good run.”
Therefore, a correction was likely, which means packers and exporters have more pork to sell on the other side of the Pacific.
