It predicts global pork production will have reached 118.2 million tonnes in 2017, up by one million from the agency’s 2016 forecast.
It says beef production will end 2017 at 69.5 million tonnes, up by 1.7 percent from 2016, and Ovine (sheep and goat) meat will inch up to 14.5 million metric tonnes from 14.4 million tonnes last year.
Driving much of the global output expansion will be the United States, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Mexico and India, as well as Argentina, Turkey and Thailand.
China’s meat production will remain stable after two years of farm consolidation and as expansions in other meats compensate for a marked decline in poultry meat, primarily due to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the FAO says.
In terms of trade, beef is projected to post the fastest expansion, to 9.1 million tonnes, a 2.2 percent increase from 8.9 million tonnes in 2016.
Poultry will grow to 13.1 million metric tons, up by two per cent over the previous year.
Pork will dip to 8.2 million metric tons in 2017 from 8.3 million tonnes in 2016, and ovine meat will stay the same at 900,000 tonnes.
The U,S., Thailand, India, Argentina, Ukraine and Brazil are all anticipated to step up meat exports in 2017, while the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Paraguay and Chile may see theirs fall.
The spread of the HPAI is expected to affect the direction and pace of poultry meat production and trade across different regions.
On the buy side, Japan, Angola, Cuba and Mexico, as well as the Republic of Korea, Iraq, Chile, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam are expected to step up imports.
Meat imports by Canada, China, the EU, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South Africa may decline, in some cases a reflection of larger domestic supplies and, in others, of declining demand due to relatively high international prices.
