Disease Outbreaks in Mexico’s Hog Herd to Drive U.S. Meat Prices Higher

Bloomberg — Hog diseases are shrinking herds in Mexico, so they’re turning to U.S. pork supplies -- a move that will likely push up American meat prices even further.

The U.S. is shipping record amounts of pork to Mexico at a torrid pace, with the country the top buyer of American pork in the latest week, U.S. government data on Thursday showed.

Outbreaks of deadly porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, known as PEDv, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS, have been killing pigs in Mexico, according to Christine McCracken, protein analyst at Rabobank. At the same time farmers are probably shrinking herds because animals are getting too expensive to feed. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent grain prices soaring.

Strong exports of U.S. red meat have been underpinning rising consumer prices and contributing to the highest overall inflation in four decades.

“A lower domestic supply of animal protein is part of their need to import more product,” McCracken said by phone.