As people abandon restaurants until the coronavirus pandemic subsides, Australian pork producers are seeing the impact with lower prices.

Key points: The wholesale price for pork meat is falling as people shy away from restaurants

The wholesale price for pork meat is falling as people shy away from restaurants Restaurant sales are down up to 90 per cent, dented by the coronavirus crisis and summer bushfires

Restaurant sales are down up to 90 per cent, dented by the coronavirus crisis and summer bushfires Pork producers had seen improving prices before Christmas with a global pig meat shortage

The wholesale pork price has dropped 30 cents a kilogram (about 5 per cent), but there are larger falls for cuts of meat used in Chinese cuisine, like the collar, which has dropped by 50 cents a kilogram to under $6.

It has taken some shine off the pork industry, which rebounded in 2019 after struggling with oversupply and low prices in recent years.

Australia Pork Limited marketing general manager Peter Hayden said while people were probably doing the right thing by staying home, it had horrible consequences for pig producers.

"It's concerning because with coronavirus, you don't know how long it's going to go on or how severe it's going to get," he said.

"It's frustrating for the individual farmer.

"The pork industry did get back on an even keel during 2019, and while this is beginning to hurt, the run into Christmas wasn't that bad."

But Mr Hayden said if restaurant bookings, particularly for Chinese cuisine, continued to fall, it would make it harder for pig producers to cope.

"We were talking to experts from the hotel and catering industry that estimated the … industry was losing $1 million of revenue a day," he said.

"If that's mainly in Asian cuisine restaurants — pork is a significant part of Asian cuisine — then that might have a more serious effect on us going forward."

Pig producers are feeling the flow-on effects of the coronavirus crisis. ( Supplied: Australian Pork Limited )

Restaurants buying less pork

In South Australia's mid-north, Eudunda pork producer Martin Lewis supplies a wholesaler who sells pork mostly to restaurants.

He texted the ABC's Country Hour and said the price for his pork had dropped 30 cents a kilogram and could continue to fall.

"Because the Chinatowns in each state are selling little pork, and Chinese restaurants are not doing the patronage, it's leaving pork wholesalers with reduced orders."

Producers focus on biosecurity

The Australian Restaurant and Catering Association said restaurant sales were down by up to 90 per cent, which they blamed on the coronavirus crisis and summer bushfires.

"We have many members telling us that all group bookings into the future have been cancelled," chief executive Wes Lambert said.

Mr Hayden said it was important the Federal Government maintained tight biosecurity to prevent the pig-killing African swine fever from reaching the country.

"We're going to remain focused on keeping African swine fever out, even though everybody else is focused on coronavirus," he said.

African swine fever has not spread to Australia but has killed more than a quarter of the world's pigs.