Far East: contrasting shows in Singapore and Shanghai

29-May-2014 - Last updated on 30-May-2014 at 09:02 GMT

The British stand at the FHA show

Food & Hotel Asia (FHA) in Singapore (7-11 April) attracted a record 3,200 exhibitors and 45,000 visitors. The show demonstrated the economic buoyancy and the increasing demand for meat in Singapore itself and south-east Asia.

Obviously, Australia still dominates meat supplies in the region. The 14 British exporters on 10 booths in the Great Meat pavilion presented a wide range of meat products. All reported brisk business, some firm orders, strong leads and distribution agreements.

This successful show, strategically placed between East and West, is certainly going from strength to strength.

In contrast, the 30% fall in pork prices since December dominated discussions at SIAL in Shanghai (13-15 May) for many producers, with some processing facilities reporting losses.

The weak and oversupplied pork market in China contrasts with the situation in the rest of Asia, characterised by high demand and prices for pork, linked to the short supplies due to the ongoing porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDv).

Demand for poultry is still weak, due to the continued lack of confidence in product safety. Nonetheless, the show was incredibly busy and a rebound of the pork market is expected. Meanwhile, beef and lamb imports are going from strength to strength.

The British meat pavilion presented four booths and exporters. In total, SIAL attracted 45,000 trade visitors and 2,500 exhibitors.