Global agriculture trade remains steady through pandemic

Source: Jaclyn Krymowski , The Pig Site, 8 December 2020, photo credit:  Michael Morgenstern/The Economist

Between a global pandemic and politically turbulent climate, livestock industries have eagerly looked toward international policies and trade. Now that 2020 has nearly come to an end, specialists in policy, trade and economics can evaluate trends and offer a future outlook, writes Jaclyn Krymowski for Global Ag Media.

As part of the virtual Agriculture Policy and Outlook Conference put on by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Dr. Ian Sheldon, professor and Andersons Chair of Agricultural Marketing, Trade and Policy at Ohio State, addressed some of these concerns.

2020 Overview

In April 2020, the World Trade Organization (WTO) estimated global trade would be impacted between 13% to 32% due to the pandemic. Fortunately, neither of those were the case. The current WTO forecast is for total 2020 global trade decline to be only about 9.2% with an anticipated rise next year.

Without the pandemic, economists were expecting trade to remain consistent on its steady tick up. Fortunately, the largest impact of the pandemic happened fairly immediately from March to May then a slow recovery began.
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The South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) coordinates industry interventions and collaboratively manages risks in the value chain to enable the sustainability and profitability of pork producers in South Africa.