Pork Prices This is an important issue in China due to its importance in the diet and the swine flu problem which preceded the Covid-19 outbreak. According to this it has not gone away.
In food, with the gradual recovery of catering services, the demand for pork consumption continues to increase, and floods in many places have a certain impact on the transportation of pigs. The supply is still tight. The price of pork rose by 10.3% , an increase of 6.7 percentage points over the previous month.
The annual numbers further remind us of the issue.
In food, the price of pork increased by 85.7% , an increase of 4.1 percentage points from the previous month
The pig333 website only takes us to the end of July but reports a price of just under 37 Renminbi compared to a bit under 20 this time last year.
I also noted this on the same website and the emphasis is mine.
Senasa (National Service of Agri-Food Health and Quality) officials certified exports of 18,483 tons of pork products and by-products sent between January and June of 2020, representing an improvement of 49% compared to the 12,336 tons sent in the same period in 2019. The main destinations were: China (9,379 tonnes); Hong Kong (2,599 t), Russia (1,845 t), Chile (1,400 t) and Angola (644 t).
So some extra demand for Argentinian farmers which will no doubt be welcome in its difficulties. But Hub Trade China suggests it may be a while before things get better.
#China‘s #pork prices, which jumped in June and edged up in July, will continue to rise in coming months due to seasonal factors and the influence of #COVID19. But tight supplies will begin to ease in the 4th. quarter thanks to boosting hog production and the expansion of imports.
The official view of the Ministry of Agriculture is this.
In the first half of 2020, live pigs and sows have maintained momentum towards recovery. At the end of June, the national sow population of 36.29 million heads changed from negative to positive for the first time year-on-year, up 5.49 million head from the end of last year. The current sow population has recovered to represent 81.2% of the herd at the end of 2017.
We are left wondering what “largely under control” means in reality.
African swine fever has been largely under control, and no major regional animal epidemics occurred in the first half of the year.
Poster Comment:
I have seen videos of pigs swimming in the floodwaters in China. Still raining. Lots of missing crops. Lots of damaged land. Yields will be reduced next year even without floods.