China to release more frozen pork from reserves in time for holidays
- It will also further increase imports and diversify sources of the meat, state broadcaster CCTV reports, citing commerce ministry
- Incurable pig disease African swine fever has killed millions of hogs in the country, causing a major shortage
China will release more frozen pork from its reserves ahead of the upcoming New Year and Lunar New Year holidays, state-owned CCTV reported, citing the commerce ministry.
China will also further increase its pork imports and diversify the import origins of the meat, Wang Bin, deputy director of the market operation department under the Ministry of Commerce said, according to CCTV.
The country will also release frozen beef and mutton in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, the report said.
Beijing has already released more than 100,000 tonnes of frozen pork from state reserves since mid-December, CCTV reported, citing Wang.
Analysts expect pork will remain in high demand as China prepares to celebrate the Lunar New Year starting on January 25, the peak consumption period for the meat.
During January to November, China’s pork imports rose 57.9 per cent from a year earlier, to 1.7 million tonnes.
China’s consumer inflation rose to an eight-year high in November as pork prices doubled.
By December 18, retail pork prices were more than double from a year earlier at 50.99 yuan (US$7.30) per kg.
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In a speech on Thursday, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Changfu said about 15 large pig breeding companies planned to invest a combined 50 billion yuan in smaller swine farms to raise 22 million hogs.
“We shall take advantage of the current good pork prices and guide large pig enterprises to lead middle- and small-sized farmers in poor areas to recover breeding of hogs,” Han said.
China had more than 26 million pig farms, of which 99 per cent raised fewer than 500 hogs a year, Wang Junxun, an agriculture ministry official, said. Those farmers contributed to about half of the country’s annual pork output, he said.
It was important for the farmers to restock hogs in order for the country to stabilise its pork production, Wang added.
China aims to revive its pig breeding capacity to normal levels in 2021 despite ongoing outbreaks of African swine fever.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
