The Fujian-based firm is also a pork wholesaler and retailer. It raises 36,300 pigs annually, making up 20 per cent of the province's total output.

The Standard reports that next month, Putian aims to raise up to HK$300 million. The roadshow is scheduled next week.

Last year, companies in the staple food sector were the biggest beneficiaries of soaring inflation.

The price of pork surged by 45.5 per cent in August from the same period in 2010, easing from a 57 per cent gain in July.

Henan Chuying Agro-pastora Co, the first pig raiser to float shares in the mainland, forecast a 250 per cent jump in net profit last year.

Meanwhile, shares of bakery chain Christine International Holdings and Xiwang Special Steel start trading on the local bourse today. In the gray market, Christine closed at HK$1.63, slightly above the offer price of HK$1.6. Each investor may get one board lot of shares as the issue was 2.5 times oversubscribed.

But Xiwang was poorly received. In the gray market the shares traded 12.07 per cent below the offer price at HK$2.65. For each board lot of 2,000 shares, an investor would have made a paper loss of HK$320.

Separately, Canada's Sunshine Oilsands ends bookbuilding at noon today. It attracted HK$32.03 million margin orders, insufficient to cover its HK$469 million retail target.

But HSBC (0005) foresaw an upcoming warm IPO market as secondary volumes shows signs of a pick-up.