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The Canadian pork industry and COVID‐19: A year of resilience

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  • Ken McEwan
  • Lynn Marchand
  • Max Zongyuan Shang

Abstract

While COVID‐19 had the potential to be extremely disruptive to the Canadian pork supply chain, the sector showed resiliency by adjusting to market changes to ensure industry continuation. Unlike other non‐agricultural firms that were mandated to close at times, the pork sector was deemed an essential service and allowed to continue operating throughout the pandemic. Evidence of this resiliency is seen in three main ways. First, market access to the United States was maintained for both live pigs and pork exports. Second, Canada not only maintained market share in global pork exports, but it also actually increased shipments because of strong demand from China caused by African swine fever. Third, the challenges of processing plant closures and labour shortages were overcome in a variety of ways including increasing interprovincial shipments and increasing live pig exports to the United States. Pork consumption on a per capita basis continued the historical downward trend, and it is expected that consumers will return to their normal consumption patterns (e.g., dining at restaurants) despite job losses. At the meat processing level, it is anticipated that there will be an acceleration in the process to automate. Bien que le COVID‐19 ait le potentiel de perturber considérablement la chaîne d'approvisionnement du porc canadien, le secteur a fait preuve de résilience en s'adaptant aux changements du marché pour assurer la continuité de l'industrie. Contrairement à d'autres entreprises non agricoles qui ont reçu l'ordre de fermer, le secteur porcin a été considéré comme un service essentiel et a pu continuer à fonctionner tout au long de la pandémie. La preuve de cette résilience est perçue de trois manières principales. Premièrement, l'accès aux marchés des États‐Unis a été maintenu tant pour les porcs vivants que pour les exportations de porc. Deuxièmement, le Canada a non seulement maintenu sa part de marché dans les exportations mondiales de porc, mais il a également augmenté ses expéditions en raison de la forte demande de la Chine causée par la peste porcine africaine. Troisièmement, les défis liés aux fermetures d'usines de transformation et aux pénuries de main‐d'œuvre ont été surmontés de diverses manières, notamment en augmentant les expéditions interprovinciales et en augmentant les exportations de porcs vivants vers les États‐Unis. La consommation de porc par habitant a poursuivi sa tendance à la baisse historique et on s'attend à ce que les consommateurs reviennent à leurs habitudes de consommation normales (e.g., manger au restaurant) malgré les pertes d'emplois. Au niveau de la transformation de la viande, on s'attend à une accélération du processus d'automatisation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ken McEwan & Lynn Marchand & Max Zongyuan Shang, 2021. "The Canadian pork industry and COVID‐19: A year of resilience," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 69(2), pages 225-232, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:69:y:2021:i:2:p:225-232
    DOI: 10.1111/cjag.12276
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jayson L. Lusk & Glynn T. Tonsor & Lee L. Schulz, 2021. "Beef and Pork Marketing Margins and Price Spreads during COVID‐19," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 4-23, March.
    2. Haley, Mildred & Gale, Fred, 2020. "African Swine Fever Shrinks Pork Production in China, Swells Demand for Imported Pork," Amber Waves:The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources, and Rural America, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, vol. 0(01), February.
    3. Dermot J. Hayes & Lee L. Schulz & Chad E. Hart & Keri L. Jacobs, 2021. "A descriptive analysis of the COVID‐19 impacts on U.S. pork, turkey, and egg markets," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(1), pages 122-141, January.
    4. Yubin Wang & Jingjing Wang & Xiaoyang Wang, 2020. "COVID-19, supply chain disruption and China’s hog market: a dynamic analysis," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 427-443, June.
    5. Xiaohua Yu & Chang Liu & Hanjie Wang & Jan-Henning Feil, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on food prices in China: evidence of four major food products from Beijing, Shandong and Hubei Provinces," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(3), pages 445-458, June.
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