China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of live pigs. African swine fever, which has been raging for years, has not yet stopped and there are reports of other pig outbreaks across China this winter.
According to Reuters, citing industry sources and analysts, the increase in outbreaks in China’s pig industry this winter has affected the industry’s recovery, according to international media on Feb. 6. The report cited official Chinese statistics that said China’s hog stock rose 31 percent in 2020. However, a manager of a pig farm supplies company told Reuters that winter swine fever was more frequent in northeastern and northern provinces, while outbreaks of porcine Epidemic diarrhea (PED) were higher than in previous years.
There has been little official media coverage of outbreaks in the pig sector in China, but industry insiders and analysts have noted an increase in outbreaks of infectious diseases in pigs. As the world’s largest pork consumer, the Chinese government is under pressure to secure pork supplies and keep prices down. But pork prices have remained high for some Time, leading to Inflation as well as record imports.
And new strains of swine fever, possibly due to the use of unapproved vaccines, have led to chronic diseases that are more difficult to detect. This so-called “vaccine virus” and the increase in hog stocking over the past year have contributed to the spread of African swine fever, Shandong Yongyi Consulting said in a briefing last week.
The report said last year’s outbreak was largely concentrated in the north, while this year the damage from the vaccine virus is also quite widespread in the south, affecting national pork production this January.
In January, Chinese officials unusually reported an outbreak of swine fever found in Guangdong province. It was the first confirmed outbreak since June last year.
Last December, the Chinese government said that the reduction in pig stock due to African swine fever would fully recover in the first half of 2021. By November, stocks had reached 90 percent of pre-African swine fever first outbreak levels.
Yet rising piglet prices suggest a shortage still exists, which will be reflected in pork production later this year.
An agent for a pig farm in Shandong told Reuters, “Why is the demand so high? Because of the fear of swine fever, many young pigs that have not grown to full weight are sent to the slaughterhouse early.” He said farmers are now eager to sell the pigs on their farms.
Data released by Yonex Consulting shows that 17 percent of the pigs sent to slaughterhouses in the last week of January this year weighed less than 90 kg, instead of the usual 120 to 140 kg.
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