African swine fever strikes again in China

Southwestern Sichuan Province is seeing another revival of the swine virus. Small pig farms are affected. There are many small-scale pig farms in Sichuan, because the mountainous area limits the number of large pig farms. The loss of pigs due to ASF in the province is estimated at approximately 10% to 15%.

Outbreak due to cost reduction
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs already reported 2 ASF outbreaks in Sichuan earlier this year (in March), one in the east in the city of Huaying and one in the far west. The outbreaks have caused great unrest among pig farmers. For fear of contamination, many pigs are slaughtered preventively.

The higher supply has resulted in lower prices. Typically, the pig price in the province is above the price level of other regions due to population density and high consumption level. Last week, however, the average pig price in Sichuan fell below the national average, to 15,6 yuan ($3,30) per kilo.

AVP was reportedly able to strike again in Sichuan, as many preventive measures for pig farms have been relaxed recently. With this, the government intended to reduce the costs for pig farmers, in view of the sharp decrease in the price of pigs in the past period.

large pork
A lot of pork is normally produced in Sichuan. Last year, 48,5 million slaughter pigs were processed. This accounts for 9% of total Chinese production, respectively. Further spread of the virus, which is feared, could slow the recovery of domestic pork production.

China says it is well on its way to recovering domestic pork production. Import demand has fallen sharply recently, although it cannot be established with certainty that this is due to the recovery of the domestic pig population. This may also have to do with preventive slaughter for fear of ASF.