CHICAGO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - News that China may soon resume buying U.S. pork helped push U.S. hog futures higher in electronic trade early Thursday, but analysts warned that pork sales to that country will be small once the ban is lifted.
"While this is good news, we don't see any lasting surge in buying of pork. They don't want the product," said Rich Nelson, analyst with Allendale Inc.
China has been building up its own hog and pork supplies and will not need to import as much as in years past, said Nelson.
Following meetings in China this week, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Thursday that China should soon lift its ban on U.S. pork. The ban was applied in May after outbreaks here of H1N1 flu, commonly called swine flu.
"China is not likely to be a major buyer of U.S. pork again soon, with its domestic production having rebounded," Brock Associates said Thursday in a research note.
In early electronic trading, Chicago Mercantile Exchange December hog
futures