China's pig prices will continue to recover in the short term, following a decline in the number of pigs born earlier this year. That was said by an official for the country's state planner this morning.
The number of pigs slaughtered in July and August was falling, said Wan Jinsong, head of the pricing department of the National Development and Reform Commission.
"We expect live pig prices to recover for a while," said Wan.
China's hog prices have fallen this year, belittling market expectations that they would remain high due to ongoing disease shortages.
Piglet production declined earlier this year after a severe wave of disease, including new strains of African swine fever and other swine viruses, hit farms hard over the winter months.
The disease outbreaks, however, drove up the number of slaughter pigs, which put pressure on prices.
The fall in prices in turn led to further panic slaughter among farmers in the second quarter, which drove pork production to unusual levels at a time of seasonally weak demand.
The state planner started buying pork from the market in June to prop up prices. It's the first of its kind since 2019 that resulted in prices rebounding by around 15% since the end of June. It will be buying pork for the third time this month on July 21st.
Beijing will also tighten regulation if necessary to prevent major fluctuations in pork and pork prices, Wan said.
Source
Hansa Terminhandel GmbH
