China last week made its biggest purchase of U.S. pork in two weeks, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday, as Beijing seeks to ease supply shortages caused by the spread of a fatal hog disease.

The USDA is expected to confirm more Chinese purchases next week, traders said, after the world’s biggest pork consumer and hog producer bought 3,375 tonnes of pork from Sept. 13-19.

China’s pork imports rose 76% in August from the same month a year earlier, customs data showed on Monday, as the world’s top consumer of the meat stocked up on supplies after a deadly disease decimated its pig herd.

China took in 162,935 tonnes of pork last month, data from the General Administration of Customs shows, up 76% from August 2018 but down from July’s 182,227 tonnes.

The US Dept. of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (ERS) released its Livestock, Dairy and Outlook for August. The agency showed that pork imports had slowed while more cattle continued to come up during the first part of 2019.
 

The world’s biggest pork consumer bought just over 10,000 tons of U.S. pork sometime between August 2-8. Reuters says that was the biggest purchase of American pork in almost two months. The pork purchase is due for shipment this year as African Swine Fever continues to ravage the world’s biggest pork herd. The Chinese Commerce Ministry had said on August 5 that Chinese companies stopped buying U.S. farm commodities after yet another escalation in the trade war with America. Reuters says it’s not clear if the pork was bought before or after the August announcement.

Pork prices have been sent soaring and herds devastated as African swine fever tears through China's massive pig-farming industry, forcing the country to ramp up imports to satisfy demand—but analysts warn worse is yet to come.