Strong incomes and a robust processing industry make Chile a potential market for growth of U.S. pork imports. David Newman, a pork producer from Missouri, who serves on both the National Pork Board and the U.S. Meat Export Federation, just returned from a Pork Board Task Force tour of shipping, processing, production and retail in the country.

"The Chilean ag industry is very advanced. There are some very, very good production systems in Chile, we were able to see them. There's some tremendous processing capability there as well for further processed items," Newman says. "So what opportunities are there? On the on the fresh pork side, for example, there's a lot of heavily processed items there. So I think that moving some of the individual, either trim items, or primals, I think there's an opportunity across the board, quite honestly. We were in retailers as well, and if you look at items like ribs, there's a big market there.

"And one of the things specific about Chile is, in terms of their economy, they rank in the top three in the Western Hemisphere, the United States, Canada and Chile, in terms of average income per person. So the spending power is there, in other words, to purchase middle meats and to purchase for the processed meats."

Newman says U.S. pork has advantages in the market, not only because of safety and quality, but also because of U.S. grain production.

"They're heavily reliant on the import of grain to raise livestock. They're reliant on 100% of their corn, I believe 75% of their soybean meal. So, there becomes a cost equation that falls into that," Newman says. "Whereas here in the U.S., that least cost production is one of the things we talk about a lot in terms of raising livestock. And if you look at the opportunities, if we can get some of these shipping, and logistical issues out of the way, it does provide an opportunity in multiple markets for U.S. products on a cost standpoint."

Source: U.S. Meat Export Federation, which is solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly owns the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.