Inside Pigs
China reports rapid pig population growth
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture says that the number of pigs increased sharply in July. Breeding sows in particular are showing a strong increase, although the question is whether the reported growth is watertight.
Read this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you
Compared to the same month a year earlier, the number of pigs has grown by 13,1%. Exact animal numbers are not mentioned. The number of pigs in China has now shown growth figures for 6 months in a row.
Compared to a month earlier, the pig herd grew by 4,8% in July. Assuming that China has about 350 million pigs, this amounts to an increase of around 15 million pigs in one month. The growth mainly comes from provinces such as Iangsu, Anhui, Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan, where the pig sector is strongly represented.
Significantly more sows
The number of breeding sows has even grown by 20,3% compared to a year earlier. Compared to June, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture reports a growth of 4%. Based on the growth that has started, China expects that the shortage of pig (meat) resulting from the outbreaks of African swine fever will be a thing of the past within 5 to 6 months. The ministry expects the shortages to continue in the third quarter. Something that is clearly reflected in the sky-high Chinese pork import figures. It happened again in July a record volume imported.
Flood in July
The growth figures deserve a comment. The heavy flooding in July, the heaviest since 1998, disrupted pig logistics and resulted in fewer pigs being slaughtered. This may have inflated the numbers. Many pigs have also drowned, although China does not say a word about this.
Ping Chew, chief analyst at Rabobank research in Asia, says of sector estimates that 20 million pigs may have drowned during the floods. The average Chinese pig price is fairly stable in mid-August, at levels around 37 yuan per kilo of live weight. This amounts to approximately €4,50.