According to reporting in Bloomberg, Chinese hog farmers have been fattening their pigs since late 2020 and their weights have nearly doubled to “roughly the size of a pygmy hippo or female polar bear”. Farmers hope that the larger pigs will bring higher returns if market prices rebound. Cao Tao, a pig trader from Shaanxi told Bloomberg that he is buying pigs that weigh more than 200kgs – average pig sizes are usually around 125kgs.

A market rebound seems unlikely, however. Wholesale pork prices in China have dropped by more than 40% since January 2021 as pork imports increased and consumer demand has remained sluggish. Farmers are also contending with fresh outbreaks of African swine fever which is spurring rounds of panic selling. Big breeder Muyuan Foods Co expects that domestic hog prices will continue to dip until 2022 and might extend their fall into 2023.

Read more about this story in Bloomberg.