Fewer sows in China, pig price falls again

This is evident from figures from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. 0,5% fewer sows were counted in July than the previous month. The total number of pigs present increased slightly by 0,8%. Compared to July 2020, there is still a significant increase in the number of animals kept.

Numbers are still significantly higher on an annual basis
According to China's agriculture ministry, there were 45,64 million sows on pig farms in the country at the end of June. That is 9,34 million more than at the end of June last year. The total number of pigs amounted to 439,11 million. That was 29,2% more than last year.

According to figures, no fewer than 1,2 million live pigs were imported for breeding in the first half of this year. That was 50% more than in the first half of last year. This has contributed to a rapid recovery of the pig herd. Half of the breeding animals came from the European Union, the other half from the United States.

Efficiency is important again now that returns are under pressure
According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, the recent decline in the sow herd is the result of an efficiency drive at the companies. In recent years, many fattening pigs have been used as sows in order to quickly benefit from the high pig prices. Now that pig prices have fallen sharply, companies have started to select out these less efficient sows.

Returns in Chinese pig farming have fallen sharply as a result of low pig prices and extremely high feed prices. After pig prices recovered slightly in July from the sharp decline in the first half of the year, they fell slightly again in recent weeks. The mood on the Chinese pig futures market is also weak and the contract for September delivery had to give up a lot of ground again. At the beginning of August the contract was still at €2,40, but on Thursday August 19 the contract closed at the equivalent of €2,06 per kilo of live weight.