Thai pork is 1.3 times more expensive! Risk of losing billions in market to imported pork?

The opening of some agricultural products in exchange for lower import tariffs for some industries is an issue that Thai businesses and farmers are closely watching, especially pork and offal, which are considered as one of the important products affecting the entire supply chain.

The latest analysis suggests that if the US pork import market is opened with a 0% tax rate, it will have an impact in many dimensions, especially when considering the average selling price of Thai pork at $2.3/kg, which is 1.3 times more expensive than US pork at $1.7/kg.

The production potential is far away
US pork is produced on a large scale, has low cost, and has efficient management systems, allowing it to sell at prices much lower than Thailand. If Thailand liberalizes imports, the possible impacts include:

• ✅ Pig farmers (149,000 people), most of whom are small-scale farmers, more than 97%, may have to close down their businesses or become unemployed.
• ✅ More than 5 million households growing animal feed crops (e.g. corn, broken rice) may face problems with low prices.
• ✅ Pork slaughterhouses and retailers may lose market share to imported finished products.
• ✅ The Thai pork market may lose a total value of more than 112,330 million baht.

Health concerns
While consumers and restaurants benefit from reduced costs, there are concerns that imported pork may contain a reagent, which in many countries is used to increase lean meat and reduce fat in pork. This substance can cause side effects such as muscle twitching, hand tremors, dizziness or other severe symptoms, especially in high-risk groups such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with underlying medical conditions.

Source: Bangkok Business Online

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