The number of pigs in China is increasing again

In CHINA, pig populations have largely recovered from African swine fever (ASF). The total number of pigs has increased by almost 10 million in the last 12 months. Correspondingly, pork production increased strongly again, while slaughter pork prices fell. However, only a slight decline in imports is expected in 2021.

The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture recently announced that there were 45.64 million sows in the country at the end of June, up 9.34 million or 25.7% from twelve months earlier. The total number of pigs increased over the year by 99.2 million heads or 29.2% to 439.11 million heads. This means that the herd size has grown to the level of the end of 2017, a year before the outbreak of ASF, the ministry explained.

Pork production in the People's Republic also increased significantly in the first half of 2021. According to official figures, 334.4 million pigs were slaughtered, up 86.4 million pigs or 34.4% from the previous year. Pork production also increased - by 35.9% to 27.2 million tons. The strong increase in supply was accompanied by a sharp drop in the price of pigs in China, but then the prices of slaughter pigs throughout the country stabilized.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, China is still fighting ASF outbreaks in swine herds and is strictly following the biosecurity measures in place. Eleven outbreaks of ASF have been reported this year in eight provinces, resulting in the death of 2,216 pigs, according to the ministry. According to official information, 13,500 animals were killed in 19 outbreaks last year. This means that the number of infections has fallen sharply, as emergencies killed more than 800,000 pigs in 99 epidemic cases in 2018; a year later, about 390,000 animals were killed in 63 reported outbreaks.

And this fact will be taken into account when preparing the monthly analytical report Meatinfo.ru