Shares of the American food products company Hormel Foods Corporation (HRL) were trading lower Thursday following a mixed second-quarter print, with the group warning that African swine flu in China began to impact global hog, pork markets in the quarter. 

Hormel Foods shares were down 1.54 percent at $38.88 at the time of publication Thursday. 

Hormel Foods reported quarterly earnings of 46 cents per share, beating the consensus estimate by a penny.

The company reported quarterly sales of $2.345 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. 

"In spite of record sales, second-quarter earnings did not meet our expectations," CEO Jim Snee said in a statement. 

The impact from African swine fever during the quarter led to rapidly increasing input costs, the CEO said. 

"In response, we have announced pricing action across our branded value-added portfolio in the grocery products, refrigerated foods, and international segments." 

Pork Prices Set To Soar

Over the last year, African swine fever has wiped out 1 million hogs in China and many more across Europe and Southeast Asia.

Lean hogs are the most commonly traded commodity product for gaining investment exposure to whole hog prices, according to Commodity.com. 

The growth in Chinese demand for pork is high and has been a driving factor for investors, as livestock is reportedly becoming more expensive as the hog market starts to heat up.