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Argentina presents great opportunity for US pork

An executive with the US Meat Export Federation says once regulatory hurdles are cleared Argentina will become a promising market for US pork.

Dan Halstrom is senior vice president for marketing.  “Some of the primal items such as hams, shoulders, picnics, trim, and things like that would go into further processing sector – I think there is no doubt that the US is well positioned to take some of that opportunity,” he says.

Pork consumption in Argentina is a distant third- behind beef and poultry – and Halstrom says that means there is room for growth.  “I think that we will expect to see the pork consumption grow in Argentina as it has in the rest of South America,” he says.  “Even though they produce a lot of pork in South America this is also an opportunity for the imported side.”

Brazil is currently the number one exporter of pork to Argentina.

Last week the White House announced the US and Argentina had reached an agreement that will allow the US to resume pork exports to Argentina for the first time since 1992.