China releases stockpiled pork to ease price surge

Kenneth Afor

The Chinese government is releasing pork from its stockpiles today to help ease surging prices ahead of the celebration of the Communist Party’s 70th anniversary on October 1.

Pork prices in the global market soared almost 50 percent about a year ago as a result of the African swine fever outbreak that destroyed pigs in the region.

business a.m gathered that about 10,000 tons of stockpiled frozen pork will be auctioned today in china, according to a government agency., a little bit lower from the last auction in January which was 9,600 tons.

China, which produces and consumes about two-thirds of the world’s pork, released for sale less than 0.2 percent of the total monthly consumption of about 4.7 million in 2018.

With the break of the announcement from the Chinese government, its motive is to keep the level of supply at a level stable while a slight in prices might be slightly witnessed from the farmers and consumers.

Meanwhile, according to industry analysts projections, an estimate of about 3 to 5 million metric tons of frozen pork and live pigs are secretly put on reserve by the Chinese government.

Also, they added that the estimated reserve cannot go-round as it may have an impact on supplies in the market.

However, to mitigate future shortages and rev up pork production in the country, the government has initiated strategies to revive the industry by supporting farmers and providing incentives to increase pig herds and step up facilities.

Similarly, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in China promised on Wednesday to take “control measures in a timely manner” to stabilize food prices ahead of the October 1 celebrations.

“We will take the lead in formulating plans and measures to ensure a stable supply of pigs,” said an NDRC spokeswoman, Meng Wei.

The current surge in food prices is an irony of the ruling party who claim to provide improved living standards in its market-style economic reform.

At the end of the second quarter of 2018, global pork output plunged in China as a result of the epidemic, an immediate drastic was put in motion; destroying affected pig herds.

Although, African swine fever is harmless to humans, on pigs it is fatal and spreads faster between the animals.

August’s rise in pork prices pushed food cost inflation to 3.2%, above the ruling party’s official target of 3%.

Meanwhile, according to forecasts, business a.m learned that pork production in China may go south this, but that was dismissed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture saying that Chinese imports of pork may rise to 41 percent.

Read also: Locked out of China, U.S. pork producers sniff out new buyers

To add credence to the USDA dismissal of
the forecast released, in the first half of 2019, pork imports to China rose to 819,000 metric tons, 26 percent higher. The European Union also supplied 62 percent, while 16 and 8 percent were shared by Canada and American farmers respectively.