Tyson Foods Inc. is seeking alternative markets for its pork after China has banned pork imports from half of the company’s slaughterhouses because of the use of the food additive ractopamine. It is currently unclear if there are shipments en route that will need to be redirected. Recently the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announce that China has banned pork imports from six U.S. processing plants and six cold storage facilities including a Hormel Food Corp. plant in Nebraska, a Triumph Foods plant in Missouri, and a Quality Pork Processors Inc. plant in Minnesota. The length of the ban is unknown at this time however the motives for the ban may be political. China’s domestic pork production increased 3.4% year on year for the first quarter of 2014, and this may be a move by Beijing to limit foreign hog supplies to protect and support domestic prices and production.
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