News Pigs
China takes pork from stock again
The Chinese pig price has risen sharply again in recent weeks. In an effort to contain the price increase, the country is marketing pork from stock. Today (January 15) a batch of meat will be marketed for the second time this year.
The Chinese government is going to auction 30.000 tons of frozen pork today. It is already the second time this year that stock pork has entered the market, the first time was 8 days ago (January 7) when 20.000 tons were released.
The marketing of extra pork is an attempt to keep the pig price down, which is still very high and has even risen in the run-up to the Chinese New Year holiday. At the end of November, the price was converted at €3,79 per kilo and since then the prices have continued to rise. On January 6, the pig price was no less than € 4,53
Seasonal demand
The price increase is probably a result of the seasonally stronger demand for pork towards the end of the year. The availability of pork also contributes to the price increase, pork imports were treated more cautiously at the end of 2020 because fear was of the introduction of the coronavirus via meat imports.
China is busy restoring domestic pork production, which has plummeted as a result of African Swine Fever (ASF) which devastated much of the pig population. In its own words, the country is now back at 90% of the production capacity before the ASF outbreak. Despite this, prices remain very volatile and it is not inconceivable that the country will also take more meat from stock this year.
Chanti Oussoren
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