Pork Prices Cooling as China Boosts Pig Farming
CHINA - Pork prices finally subsided last week after a month-long rally that drove China's consumer prices to a three-year high in June. The retreat came with a notice from the State Council, or China's cabinet, which stressed a new round of macro-control over pork costs.
29 July 2011
2 minute read
Wholesale pork price edged down 0.2 per cent from a week earlier to 26.11 yuan (US$4) per kilo between 18-24 July in China's 36 cities that are being monitored, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.
ShanghaiDaily.com reports that the State Council also initiated a campaign to stabilise market supply and retail price of pork.
"Local governments should support pig farming by improving their production environment and epidemic prevention to ensure stable pork supply," the State Council said in the notice.
It called for continued incentives, for example a 100 yuan subsidy for each breeding sow a year, to stimulate pork production.
Soaring pork prices contributed the most to China's inflation in June, which hit a three-year high of 6.4 per cent. Last month, pork prices climbed 57.1 per cent from a year earlier, or 11.4 per cent month on month.
The current round of rising pork prices was triggered by a low market supply, Yao Jian, a ministry spokesman, said earlier. He expected the market can adjust the supply and demand automatically as rising prices lured more players into the market.
It is reported that some property developers have entered the pig business to pursue high profits as the real estate market is reeling from the government's tightening policies.
