Since their low point in March, slaughter pig prices in China have risen steadily and, according to local analysts, should now make profits possible again. According to the nationwide survey, the average producer price earlier this week was CNY 16.64/kg live weight (EUR 2.36); that was around 43% more than in mid-March and 25% more than exactly a year ago. Although feed costs have also risen in the People's Republic, according to the experts, the break-even point is around CNY 15/kg (EUR 2.13) and has now been exceeded.
Chief analyst for monitoring the pig market at the Beijing Ministry of Agriculture, Wang Zuli, told the press that according to the state monitoring system, the number of fattening pigs sold fell 0.2% month-on-month in May, which coincided with the recovery in consumption led to a price increase. According to Wang, the more optimistic mood can also be seen in the number of sows kept. At the end of May, these increased again for the first time in ten months, by 0.4% compared to April to 41.92 million units. This corresponds to 102.2% of the target value of at least 41 million sows.
National Development and Reform Commission spokesman Meng Wei expects pork prices to continue to rise in the second half of 2022 with insufficient supply and increasing demand. He referred to the development on the futures market Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE). The settlement rate for live pigs for the November futures there earlier this week was CNY 19.97/kg (EUR 2.84), and contracts maturing in busy January were settled at CNY 20.64/kg (EUR 2.93).
PigUA.info by materials euromeatnews.com