China releases 10,000 tons of pork from reserves to increase the supply of meat

On Thursday, Chinese authorities released another 10,000 tons of pork from its central reserves to increase the supply of pork on the market and ensure its supply for the upcoming national holiday festival.

At the beginning of September, 2,400 tonnes of reserve beef and 1,900 tonnes of reserve sheep were placed on the market, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said in an online note.

African Swine Fever is killing vast numbers of pigs in China forcing the government to releases tons of pork from reserves to increase meat supply

According to Christine McCracken, a senior analyst at RaboResearch, “Every day, we hear of more outbreaks”. She said by the end of 2019, China’s production of pork could be cut in half. Half of the world’s pigs live in China — or at least they did before the African Swine Fever epidemic began a year ago.

According to the Ministry, China is able to guarantee the supply of meat through a sharp increase in imports and frozen meat reserves.

He also said that pork prices in China have been growing slower recently. Average wholesale pork prices on 18 September increased by 1.3% compared to those of 10 September, with a daily growth rate of 0.8 percentage points lower than that recorded at the end of August.

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China will continue to pay close attention to supply and demand in the pork market and to changes in pork prices, improve the links between production and sale of pork and strengthen forecasts and alerts related to the pork market, stated the MOC.

The ministry and other government agencies will continue to introduce pork from central reserves to ensure the supply of pork to the market in the near future.