China Hog Industry News

[mikey]

Hunan knocks a hole in Asean pork market
[18 November 2010] More uncooked pork products from China are expected to land in Asean countries.  Taking the lead is Yiyang Meat Joint Processing Plant in China’s southern province of Hunan that shipped some 100,000 tonnes of chilled pork worth of USD 47,800 to Malaysia in November this year. The plant completed registration at the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) in Malaysia and has become the first of its kind among its Chinese counterparts. Since China-Asean FTA took effect this year, Hunan has restarted exporting frozen porket to Singapore. The province, a major pig producing region in China, kicked off exports of frozen pork to the Philippines in April.

[mikey]

Hebei Hongdu to export pork to Singapore and Russia
[7 December 2010] Hongdu Group in China’s northern province of Hebei has commenced production at its newly established slaughter facility in Qinhuangdao, northeastern China’s Liaoning province. The plant is designed to handle 2 million pigs per year. Cost CNY 80 million (USD 12 million), the facility will produce 150,000 tonnes of fresh carcass per year and generate annual sales of CNY 2.6 billion (USD 388 million). The Group has targeted part of its output for export to Singapore and Russia.

[mikey]

Chinese pork consumption levels, but numbers increase 30 Nov 2010
People in China on average do not eat more pork, but the increasing population will take total consumption to about 52 million tonnes in 2020.

The average rate of consumption of pig meat per person in China may not increase above the present level between 2010 and 2020, said Dr. Ma Cheung, Vice-Secretary General of the Chin Animal Agriculture Association at the 2nd Chinese European Pig Summit in Hannover, Germany.
 
But the growth rate of 60-70 million people per year forecast for China’s human population over this period would still take the total annual amount consumed to about 52 million tonnes by 2020.
 
Very small farms
Herd productivity is an issue for Chinese pig farmers, said Dr. Ma. Out of the 65 million farms producing pigs in China, about 62 million are extremely small.
 
But even changing the annual production of each smallholder by a single pig would mean 62 million pigs being added to or taken from the national total.
 
Restrictions on production
Livestock production in China faces an increase of restrictions aimed at protecting the environment, Dr. Ma reported.
 
Most Chinese pork at present is produced in the East of the country, but a move to more northern areas could be considered in order to gain better access to land and grain.
 
Genetic improvement
New initiatives have been launched to improve China’s pig breeding resources, said Dr. Wang Lixian, Head of the Swine Science Division at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
 
After rather slow progress in the last 10 years, the decision was taken in 2009 to re-launch the national swine genetic improvement program and in 2010 an expert group was formed to work with selected nucleus herds.
 
The plan is to focus on 50 nucleus farms with about 50,000 purebred sows for the 2010-2012 period and to double these numbers between 2013 and 2016.
 
 

[mikey]

Danish Breeding Pig Farm Set up in China
CHINA - Danish-owned Scandinavian Farms has started construction of a new pig breeding farm in Jiangsu province.


The first steps towards building a big Danish-owned pig breeding farm was made on 11 December in the Jiangsu province. The project is the first large-scale Danish investment in Chinese agriculture and is based on the concept 'Safe pork' and 'farm–to–table' principles, for which Danish pig production is world-known.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark in Beijing, the ground-breaking ceremony of the project on 11 December was attended by Party Secretary from Lianyugang, Mr Tang, Mayor in Guanyun, Mr Yin, and Vice Secretary of China Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Association, Mr Ma, together with representatives from the Danish Embassy, management from Scandinavian Farms Ltd. and Scandinavian Farms Pig Breeding Technology Ltd.

Scandinavian Farms Ltd. is a Danish-owned project development company within food and agriculture, which is established in China and based on competitive technology and know-how from Denmark.

Scandinavian Farms is owned by the two founders, Peter N. Rasmussen and Martin Hjort Jensen, together with a group of Danish investors from leading companies within agricultural technology and the feed industry. The subsidiary company, Scandinavian Pig Breeding Technology, which is going to run the breeding farm, is owned by Danish pig producers.

In 2009, the Industrialisation Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) under the Danish Foreign Ministry joined in the project, which is considered to be a good business opportunity, because the project activities will create local employment and income in Jiangsu province.

The local authorities in Jiangsu focus on developing and optimising agriculture in the province, and therefore, it already has a more mechanised agriculture compared to other Chinese provinces.

The project in Jiangsu is the first of its kind and will clear the way for several other projects in the future from which both China and Denmark can benefit.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Farm Produce Prices Rise on Holiday Demand
CHINA - The prices of Chinese farm produce edged higher last week, boosted by New Year holiday demand, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.


Low temperatures and freezing rain in some parts of China also pushed up prices, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

During the week of 27 December to 2 January, the wholesale prices of 18 staple vegetables rose, with the price of balsam pear, cucumber and beans up 8.2 per cent, 6 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.

The price of meat rose slightly, with pork prices up 0.8 per cent. Mutton prices rose 0.8 per cent and chicken prices rose 0.4 per cent.

Peanut and soybean oil prices increased 0.3 per cent. Colza oil prices edged 0.2 per cent higher.

Bucking the trend, the price of producer goods fell slightly last week, after rising for three consecutive weeks. The prices of iron ore and copper ore fell 1.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Food prices have a one-third weighting in the calculation of China's consumer price index (CPI), the major gauge of inflation. China's CPI hit a 28-month high of 5.1 per cent in the year to November.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Pig Feet and Ears Included in Import Ban
CHINA - Pork bi-products from Germany are atop the Chinese government's list of newly banned imports, a senior German agricultural ministry official said yesterday.


A pork vendor at a traditional market in Huaibei City, Anhui Province organizes animal bi-products in her stall in this 2009 file photo. China banned the import of German pork products including pig feet and ears Tuesday. [Photo:CFP]"Most of the pork imported into China was pork bi-products such as pig's ears and pig's feet," the spokesperson for Germany's Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection told the Global Times by phone on Thursday.

The Berlin-based official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said agricultural officials there had met with staff from several embassies in the German capital to detail precautionary measures taken to prevent more dioxin from entering the food chain.

The poisonous chemical entered the German food chain via contaminated fats that are a key ingredient in animal feeds fed to pigs and chickens.

China's food-quality regulators, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), announced a ban on pork and egg products from Germany Tuesday.

As of press time Thursday, AQSIQ declined to disclose further details about what products will be banned specifically or whether consumers should refrain from eating German products already in circulation.

AQSIQ's request for a faxed list of interview questions also went unanswered Thursday.

China's ban was sparked by a worldwide food scare starting last week that later spread to South Korea. Wednesday, officials in Hong Kong said all German pork products would be held for inspection and released to the market only after food safety officials were satisfied they were safe for consumption.

A German embassy official in Beijing told the Global Times Thursday that short-term exposure to trace amounts of the chemical in pork is not a health risk.

German exports of pork to Chinese mainland in 2009 stood at some 7,000 tons, valued at 5.9 million euros ($7.75 million), while global German pork exports were 2.2 million tons worth 4.4b euros ($5.78 billion), according to the German agricultural ministry.

An official at imported food retailer Jenny Lou's told the Global Times the Beijing-based chain sells products from Germany - including pork sausages - but was not aware of any plan to remove the items from store shelves.

Officials from grocers Walmart and Carrefour declined to confirm whether any products on their store shelves would be included in the ban.

Shenzhen-based Nogogo Trading Company, an importer in China of German sausages, said it was business as usual Thursday.

"I don't know anything about a ban on pork products," Ren Ya, a sales manager with Shenzhen Nogogo Trading Company, told the Global Times Thursday.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Attempt to Solve Pig Waste Problem Shows Results
TAIWAN - Taiwan has been experimenting with a simple solution to the perennial problems of pollution, smell and excessive water use on pig farms: train the pigs to use a toilet.


After some encouraging results the government now wants all the island's pig farms to adopt the practice as it looks to burnish its green credentials, offering cash to farmers and pushing the benefits such as less watery manure that can be sold at higher prices.

"To use the pig waste as manure is a very good approach within the spirit of green energy, much better than just letting it go to waste and pollute river water," Stephen Shen, Taiwan's "environment minister", told Reuters Television.

"And I think that can help us a lot in decreasing CO2 emissions and fighting global warming."

The "toilet" consists of a series of iron bars installed about 20 cm above the floor in the corner of the pen. Pigs step between the bars to go about their business, with the waste collected in a single, easy to clean spot.

If all the around six million pigs in Taiwan - one for every four people - used such toilets, the government estimates the around 180 million litres of water used per day in cleaning would fall by half.

The "environment ministry" has helpfully published three suggestion on how to toilet-train pigs: put some faeces in the cage as pigs will follow the smell; clean the rest of the pen so "the pigs are not misled to defecate outside the toilet" and let the pigs "become familiar with the new environment."

Chang Chung-Tou, general manager of Long Kow Foods Enterprise, a pig farm with toilets in the western Taiwan county of Yunlin, says not only does he get more for his manure, but his potty-trained porkers live longer.

"Because we don't need to flush the whole cage with water, the pigs are also less likely to catch colds. That helped us to raise the survival rate of our pigs from 70 to 90 per cent," Mr Chang told Reuters Television in an interview at the farm.

He said he has been able to increase income from the less-diluted, and therefore better quality, manure he sells to other farmers as fertiliser to more than NT$250,000 ($8,636) a year from NT$50,000.

If that is not incentive enough for others, the government will also help.

"As long as farmers are willing to try, we would give them financial aid," said "environment minister" Shen.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

China battles pork meat laced with a poisonous drug 27 Jan 2011
There have been reports of consumers in China becoming ill and ending up hospitalised with stomach pains and heart palpitations after consuming pork laced with Clenbuterol.

Clenbuterol, in China is also known as "lean meat powder," and is banned in the country. However, animal feed is sometimes mixed with this dangerous drug because some farmers want to profit on the market – as it is used in animal feed because it can decrease a pig's body fat to a thin layer, which makes the meat appear leaner and while it also makes skin pinker – making the meat look fresher for a longer period.
 
Clenbuterol-treated pork requested from pig farmers
Because of the effects on pork meat, it has made some Chinese meat suppliers request Clenbuterol-treated pork from pig farmers. With using Clenbuterol fat burning and muscle growth happens rapidly, which is why some see it as an ideal a feed additive. Though there have been reports in China of the drug entering the food supply, exactly how much food tainted with this drug is not known currently – the Chinese government will not state how many cases of contaminated meat or related illness occur annually.
 
Pork meat mostly affected
It seems that tainted pork is a major concern in the country as Clenbuterol-tainted pork is considered to be one of China's largest food threats as reports have mostly involved this meat.
 
"It's really a big problem in China," said Pan Chenjun, a senior industry analyst with Rabobank. "It's not reported frequently so people sometimes think it's not a big issue but actually it's quite widespread."
 
Despite strict Chinese laws against "Clenbuterol" which carry a prison term for offenders who produce or sell tainted food products, there are often cases where a fine or a bribe can get the offender out of a tight spot.
 
Clenbuterol – quick info:
Clenbuterol is approved for use in some countries via presciption as a bronchodilator for asthma patients.
In instances is has also been used as a performance-enhancing drug in sports – with cases where athletes have been suspended from respective sports.
In some parts of the world Clenbuterol is used for the treatment of allergic respiratory disease in horses.
In September 2006 more than 330 people in Shanghai were reported to have been poisoned by eating pork contaminated by Clenbuterol that had been fed to the animals to keep their meat lean – as it increases the rate at which body fat is metabolised.
 
 
 
Source: washingtonpost.com

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Tuesday, February 01, 2011Print This Page
Animal Husbandry Makes Significant Progress
CHINA - During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, animal husbandry has made significant achievements in ensuring effective supplies of meat, eggs and milk and improving quality and safety of feed and animal products.


In addition, safety and improvement of ecosystems were achieved as well as steady and sustained momentum of development in general, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Regarding sustained growth of animal production, it is expected that the production of meat, eggs and milk would be 78.50 million tons, 27.60 million tons, and 37.40 million tons, respectively, or an increase of 13.1 per cent, 13.2 per cent and 31 per cent, respectively, compared with 2005. Effective supplies for markets have been ensured. Currently, the country's per-capita availability of meat is 58.8kg, which is higher than the world average, and that of eggs is 20.7kg, which is higher than developed countries.

On the development of large-scale and standardised animal farming, it is expected that in 2010, large-scale pig farms with over 50 head sold and dairy cow farms with population of more than 20 animals would be 66 per cent and 47 per cent of the total, respectively, or an increase of 29 and 20 percentage points, respectively, compared with 2005. The share of mechanised milking accounts for 87 per cent or 47 percentage points higher than 2005. More feed manufacturing enterprises have been concentrated. Grassland animal husbandry has improved its production practices. For example, now there are over 40 million animals under shelter feeding instead of natural grazing.

On improved animal breeding systems, it is said that to implement the state animal reproduction and breeding programmes, the central and local governments have invested more than five billion yuan in total in rebuilding or expanding seed stock and poultry farms, resources preservation farms and quality testing centres for seed stock and poultry. Up to now, on the basis of these farms and centres, reproduction and breeding systems for quality breeds have come into being.

On the quality and safety of feed and raw milk, the statement says that in 2010, the acceptance rate of feed products from spot-check is up to 93 per cent or four percentage points higher than that of 2005. No clenbuterol has been found for five consecutive years, and the acceptance rate of animal products from regular inspection is over 99 per cent. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) has organized to implement the national safety supervision plan of raw milk and carried out blanket inspection of raw milk purchasing stations and key areas. Thanks to such efforts, the acceptance rate of raw milk from melamine inspections has been 100 per cent for tow consecutive years.

Remarkable achievements in preservation and improvement of grassland ecosystems, it is stated. The central government has spent a total of 16.482 billion yuan on preserving grassland ecosystems or an increase of 51.4 per cent compared with the Tenth Five-Year Plan period. To introduce systems for protecting basic grassland, balanced development of grassland and livestock as well as for grazing ban, rest and rotation grazing, we have vigorously implemented major projects for improving grassland ecosystems and herdsmen life such as projects of grass for grazing, control of sand storm sources and grassland management in Beijing and Tianjin areas, and resettlement of nomadic herdsmen.

During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period, animal husbandry has made significant achievements in five aspects as follows: first, establishment of policy framework for supporting animal production; second, setting up of regulation mechanisms for stabilized industrial development; third, qualitative leap made in animal production practices; fourth, further improved control systems for quality and safety of animal products; and fifth, important breakthrough in protection and development of grassland.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Pig Farmers Using Garbage as Feed
CHINA - They live next to a mountain of free pig food and never have to worry about the rocketing CPI, which may be making other pig farmers feel the pinch. They just get free or almost free food for their herd of thousands.


They live by garbage landfills, which are the source of food for their pigs.

Dozens of farming families, living around the garbage landfills in Shuige village in Nanjing's Jiangning district, East China's Jiangsu province, have been making their living by raising pigs with garbage collected from the landfills, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

The farmers collect leftovers from the landfills and mix them with some pig feed. About 90 families in the village raise an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 pigs each year.

"We can collect hundreds of kilograms (of the leftovers) every day. Only two families in our village feed their pigs with restaurant leftovers, and the others just collect pig food from the garbage landfills," said a woman whose family raises dozens of the animal each year.

Wang Caifu, whose family is currently raising 22 pigs, said he earned 30,000 yuan ($4,600) last year by selling pigs, and the number of animals his family raised was the lowest in the village.

"Collecting garbage to feed pigs costs nothing. There is no better job than raising pigs here," said Mr Wang.

A man who came to the village to work as a pig farmer from Lianyungang, also in Jiangsu, said he can earn about 500 yuan by selling each pig fed with garbage. But according to industry insiders, one pig fed entirely with feed can bring only about 100 yuan in profit in 2010.

"Garbage brings a lot of germs and may also contain heavy metal and pesticide remains," said Liu Tiezheng, a researcher with Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, adding that the meat safety of those pigs can hardly be guaranteed.

Wang Dajin, an official with Nanjing city management bureau, said they considered banning local pig farmers from collecting garbage at the landfills to feed pigs - which is technically illegal - but abandoned that plan after farmers blocked roads several times in protest.

Chen Lixia, from Jiangning's forestry bureau, said they have asked the pig farmers around the garbage landfills to promise not to feed the animals with garbage, but whether they kept that promise was hard to say.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Who Can Guarantee China's Pork is Safe?
CHINA - Detection of the toxic additive clenbuterol in pig feed has once again undermined Chinese consumers' confidence in the country's food producers.


The Chinese government is serious about the scandal. The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) announced that it will cooperate with eight ministries and commissions to launch a one-year crackdown on illegal additives in pig feed which have proven to be toxic to humans.

In big cities, like Chengdu and Nanjing, contaminated products from the food company suspected to be involved in the scandal have been soon moved off the shelves in supermarkets.

Some provinces have ordered that slaughterhouses should check their products everyday to avoid unsafe meat to be sold to the public.

Wan Long, Chief Executive Officer with the Henan-based Shuanghui Group, China's largest meat producer involved in the clenbuterol event, apologized last week.

Wan admitted the company's mistake and disclosed at a meeting that the scandal had so far cost the company more than 12.1 billion yuan (about US$1.85 billion).

The government hopes that all these efforts would produce some results in saving consumers' confidence.

Pork is the most popular meat in China. Each year more than 600 million pigs are harvested, according to Wang Zongli, vice director of the husbandry office in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Statistics from the China Animal Agriculture Association (CAAA) show that in 2009, pork accounted for 65 percent of the meat consumed by Chinese.

Clenbuterol, a poisonous chemical that can reduce a pig's body fat to produce lean meat, was found in meat products from Jiyuan Shuanghui Food Co., Ltd last month.

Experts said that the chemical is very harmful to people's health, as it might cause cancer and other diseases.

Li Peitang from Dayi County of southwest China's Sichuan Province has been raising pigs for more than 10 years, and now owns a pig farm with 3,000 hogs, making 1 to 2 million yuan a year.


Clenbuterol is very cheap and using it can reduce a pig's fat by 10 per cent, Li says.

"Lean pork fetches 1.6 yuan higher per kilogram than fattier cuts," he said.

"The scandal will hit the meat industry hard," said Qiao Yufeng, vice chairman of the CAAA.

In 2008, melamine-tainted milk powder killed at least six infants and sickened 300,000 across the country, which deeply eroded consumers' faith in the integrity of China's dairy industry.

Experts and many ordinary Chinese have pinned their hope on stepped government monitoring and revised regulations to ensure safe production of food in the country.

A netizen nicknamed sdcharles has blogged, "Where have all the people in charge of supervision gone? Only after the problem has come to light do they start doing something. Why shouldn't they all be fired?"

While Zheng Fengtian, a professor with the the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at Renmin University of China said, "It's ridiculous that Shuanghui didn't check for loopholes in supervision. Rather, it talked about feeding pigs. Is it shifting public attention?"

Professor Zheng believes that the widespread use of clenbuterol is just one of many problems with the country's meat industry. "Antibiotics are fed to pigs to stop them from getting sick, while growth hormones are added to quicken their growth."

According to a central government circular issued last October, various governmental departments were given specific responsibilities to strengthen monitoring and regulations to stop clenbuterol and other toxic substances being used in meat production.

However, Qiao Yufeng notes that the departments might shift their responsibilities so they can escape blame should something bad arise.

Professor Zheng suggests tightening supervision at the last stage in the supply chain before the products reach the market.

"Disqualified products have no market. This will force producers to behave," he said.

While Li Peitang, the farmer, said that most of the problems concerning meat quality existed at the feeding stage.

"We should ensure the safety of feed so as to tackle the problems from the beginning."

Mr Qiao said that the general public and mass media could play an important role in supervision. "They have always been the whistle-blowers. It is a strong force for social supervision."

Meanwhile, Shao Yunkai, a media officer with the Consumers' Association in Heilongjiang Province, cautioned consumers to be sensible.

"With the improvement of people's living standard, consumers paid more attention to health," he said. Lean pork with less fat was considered to more healthy.'However, he said, "fat meat has its nutrition as well, and blindness of consumers in their choices might give opportunity to the immoral producers."

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, April 11, 2011
China Vows to Tighten up on Food Safety
CHINA - The Agriculture Ministry has vowed to enhance supervision on animal products following the recent pork contamination scandal.


China vows to intensify supervision on quality and safety of animal products in the wake of pork contamination scandal, said Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) yesterday (10 April).

Vice Agricultural Minister Gao Hongbin said that it is imperative to crack down on illegal food additives such as clenbuterol and enhance quality supervision during the process of slaughter, sale, transport and stock in major pig-breeding areas, according to a statement on MOA web site.

Minister Gao called on local pig-producers to promote mass breeding in the industry's standardised drive as part of efforts to transform the development mode of animal breeding.

He also noted that local authorities should take precautions against imported animal diseases.

Clenbuterol is fed to pigs to stop them from accumulating fat. It is banned as pig feed in China because it is poisonous to humans.

Shuanghui Group's subsidiary in Jiyuan City, Henan Province, was exposed to public that it had used pork tainted with the fat-burning drug, clenbuterol, in its products on 15 March.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Monday, April 18, 2011
Chief Vet Confirms Need for Modernisation
CHINA - The country's Chief Veterinary Officer has emphasised the tasks on development of the animal husbandry and veterinary services.


On 9 April, the first training course for the heads of animal husbandry bureaux of the rotational training programme for the heads of bureaus from major counties in terms of crop production, animal husbandry and fisheries was opened at the branch of the Central Agricultural Officials Education and Training Center at China Agricultural University. Yu Kangzhen, Chief Veterinary Officer of China, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote presentation.

Mr Yu said that accelerating development of modern agriculture and transformation of the pattern of agricultural development was a major task in terms of the work on agriculture and rural economy during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period. The key to transformation of the pattern of agricultural development was great efforts in development of specialised, standardised, large-scale and intensive agricultural production and operation.

Therefore, he said, it was necessary to give high priority to expansion of standardised large-scale animal farming in the process to transform the development pattern of animal husbandry; work hard at formulation of standards, demonstration, mechanism innovation and publicity; make breakthrough in difficult issues, such as manure disposal, farming records management and biosafety disposal of animals dying of diseases; and effectively strengthen the capacity for market supply of animal products, reduce the incidence of major animal diseases and improve the quality and safety of animal products.

Mr Yu stressed that it was important to intensify the efforts in animal health and veterinary administration during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period.

He put forward the following priorities:

first, carry out effective prevention and control of major animal diseases to ensure no reemergence of major animal diseases, effective containment of further spread of zoonoses, timely prevention and control of exotic diseases and decisive response to animal disease emergencies


second, strengthen the supervision on safety of animals and animal products, especially intensify the disease inspection on farm and at the slaughterhouse to ensure no spread of animal diseases and enhance veterinary drug safety control and residue monitoring to prevent substandard animal products from being marketed, and


third, facilitate innovation in veterinary systems and mechanisms by improving the systems for veterinary administration, animal health supervision, prevention and control of animal diseases and some other aspects, accelerating development of the system for official veterinarians and licensed veterinarians, implementing the second-phase plan for the animal disease prevention system, and improving animal disease prevention institutions at the township and regional levels this year.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

Thursday, May 05, 2011Print This Page
Pork Price Fixing Alleged in Hong Kong
HONG KONG - Pork buyers allege that pork importers are fixing prices and manipulating the market manipulation.


The pork buyers' union has called on the government to open a live hog market to prevent monopolies from controlling pork prices, according to an official source.

The union, consisting of buyers and meat shops, yesterday (4 May) accused suppliers of jointly manipulating fresh hog supplies in order to reap huge profits.

Since 2007, live pigs have been imported daily from the mainland by three authorized suppliers: Ng Fung Hong Limited, Guangnan Hong Limited and Hong Kong Agriculture Special Zone Limited.

From January 2010 to March 2011, the average wholesale price of live pigs surged 40 per cent from HK$1,044 to HK$1,412 for 100 catties, causing retail fresh pork prices to jump from HK$28 a catty to HK$38, the union announced. [1 catty = 500g]

The union revealed that the price of wholesale live pigs on the mainland has been fixed at HK$1,200 for 100 catties, but the average wholesale price in Hong Kong stands at around HK$1,400, showing the suppliers are hustling big gains with large commissions and lower expenditures on staff.

Buyers alleged that the price hike was because of unstable supplies of live pigs transported to Hong Kong and the recent pork price fluctuations should be attributed to the 'three days normal and four days less' import pattern adopted by the suppliers and their artificial 'price-boosting' activities.

Kwan Kwok-wah, vice-chairman of the union, said: "We observed an abnormal practice of live pig supplies in the last six months. Sometimes, they import less and we have to bid higher because of limited supply. When the price gets higher, they import more the next day."

Because of unpredictable supplies of live pigs the following day, bidders are inclined to secure more stocks at higher prices, thus creating a sense of uncertainty in the market, explained Joe Chan Chi-wang, a member of the union.

Ng Kwok-ming, another member of the union, said: "Three suppliers act like they have some kind of prior agreement. Once one company imports less, the other two will follow suit."

Vice-Chairman Kwan asked: "Day-on-day differences are around 800 live pigs, how can that be possible?"

According to statistics of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the average numbers of daily imported live pigs varied from 4,512 in January to 3,726 in February, the lowest figure in the past 12 months. The number rose to 3,942 in April.

The union said Hong Kong at least needs 4,600 to 4,800 pigs a day to meet the demand and to stabilize bidding price at HK$1,200 for 100 catties.

If the shortage continues, the union expects the retail pork price to increase to HK$42 a catty.

The union called upon the Ministry of Commerce to open the market to all Hong Kong buyers to obtain live pigs directly from mainland suppliers to ensure a stable supply.

Mr Kwan said some meat shop owners are experiencing difficulties at the moment. Raising retail prices will drive away customers; alternatively the shop owners are simply unable to afford the increased wholesale price, he said.

A meat shop owner, Mr Lee, said he has lost 20 per cent of his business in the last three months.

"More customers have opted to buy chilled or frozen meat because it is cheaper," he said, adding he is considering quitting his business.

On 4 May, a spokesman for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, however, responded that the import of live pigs maintained "sufficient", at about 4,000, during recent months.

The spokesman said the Ministry of Commerce had granted import licenses to two more suppliers in 2007, as a move to open the market, in addition to Ng Fung Hong, the original sole authorised supplier.

The spokesman added that food prices are formulated by the market and the price of live pigs is affected by soaring global food prices, increased demand for internal consumption on the mainland as well as the exchange rate of renminbi.

However, the government will assist the trade in enlarging the food supply channel in order to maintain reasonable food prices, the spokesman added.

[Mustang Sally Farm]

US Pork Exports to China on the Rise
US exports of pork and pork variety meats to China have grown rapidly since summer 2010 and are expected to continue rising through 2011, according to Michael Woolsey and Jianping Zhang in the latest GAIN Report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service.

Following China's lifting of its H1N1 ban on US pork in May 2010, the United States quickly returned as China's top source for imported pork. Further sales gains this year will be supported by weak local pork production and strong consumer demand.

US Pork Exports to China Surge
Fuelled by a strong economy and consumer demand, along with a continued slide in Chinese pork production, US exports of pork and pork variety meats to China have grown rapidly since summer 2010 and are expected to continue rising through 2011. These sales jumped to more than 10,000 metric tons per month beginning in July 2010 and have continued at or above this level into the first quarter of 2011.

Overall, US exports to China reached 192,500 metric tons (valued at US$169 million) in the eight-month period ending February 2011. Exports to Hong Kong (most of which are re-exported to China) added another 63,600 tons ($92 million) to this total.

Traders expect sales to continue at or above this pace at least through the summer and possibly into next year due to a continued expected shortage in local supplies.

US Returns as China's Top Pork Supplier
Following China's lifting of its H1N1 ban on US pork in May 2010, the United States quickly returned as China's top source for imported pork. So far in 2011, the US has accounted for 59 per cent of China's pork and pork product imports. Prior to China's lifting of its US pork ban, the EU provided nearly 80 per cent of Chinas imports with Canada accounting for most of the remainder.

The US is expected to continue as China's top supplier as Chinese importers report pricing and availability for US pork is generally favourable over alternative sources.



China's pork imports rise with higher market prices
Source: China Customs and Ministry of Agriculture. Imports are from all sources and include variety meats
China Pork Production Slowly Recovering from Low Prices and Disease
Weak prices in the first half of 2010, followed by serious outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) and diarrhoea, resulted in sharp herd reductions among some backyard operators with reports of many quitting pig farming. FAS/Beijing has been told the 2010 FMD strain was not detected previously and is only recently being brought under control. The new virus strain was reportedly Burma 98. It is air-spread within 25km. Some farmers reportedly used vaccines for other types of FMD to control Burma 98 with unsatisfactory results, resulting in a spread of the disease to numerous provinces in 2010. Culling was extensive in some areas. For example, contacts in Xinjiang report that 100,000 pigs were culled in Kashgar alone. Contacts report that a new vaccine for Burma 98 virus strain was introduced early this year by the China FMD Reference Lab in Lanzhou and the early results look promising.

Meanwhile, the 2010 diarrhoea epidemic was particularly serious in southern China in the winter, which affected piglet survival. The impacts of this disease are reportedly diminishing as the weather continues to warm.

With the resultant lower hog inventory and continued strong consumer pork demand, live hog prices have surged from under 10 yuan (CNY; US$1.53) per kilogram in August 2010 to CNY14.7 ($2.26) per kilogram in March 2011.

The Ministry of Agriculture statistics report China's hog inventory slid to 445 million head in February 2011, down 2.7 per cent from the same period last year, while China’s sow inventory has fallen to 47.4 million head, down 3.3 per cent from the same month in 2010. Anecdotal evidence suggests these numbers are likely significantly lower. Hog producers in Henan and Shandong provinces are reporting the number of fattened pigs ready for slaughter is 20 per cent below the same period in 2010. These producers believe this number will gradually improve over the next six months.

The expectation that prices will continue at a high level has encouraged herd expansion in 2011. With strong demand for piglets and tight supplies, piglet prices have reached three-year highs, up 50 per cent so far in 2011 to CNY28 ($4.31) per kilogram in March. However, analysts and traders believe China's expansion could take up to two years before inventories reach levels achieved in early 2010. Expansion among backyard operators will be slow as rising wages for migrant workers in China's medium- and large-sized cities continue to dampen interest in small-scale pig farming. A shortage of factory workers has reportedly topped two million in the Pearl River Delta alone, driving wages higher nationwide. Small-scale operators are also being discouraged by fears of animal disease and high costs of feed. Corn prices in China are over CNY2,100 ($323) per ton, up 12 per cent from the same month last year.

Traders Report Brisk Sales Despite Higher Pork Prices
Retail pork prices are highest they have been since summer 2008, when pork prices nearly doubled following a serious outbreak of blue ear disease (PRRS) in 2007. The strong market is being fuelled by continued double-digit gains in China's economy. Despite attempts by the Chinese leadership to cool the economy, GDP growth in the first quarter of 2011 reached 9.7 per cent and near double-digit growth is likely for the remainder of 2011.

Bolstered by abundant supply and competitive prices, US variety meats have enjoyed particularly strong demand in China and this will continue through 2011. Traders report the majority of imports from the US are feet, head meat (ears, lips, cheek) and offals. Nearly all these products are used in sausage manufacturing and other processed meats.

Clenbuterol Findings Have Not Impacted Pork Sales so Far
In late March, CCTV broadcast an investigative report of hogs being fed with the banned steroid clenbuterol and purchased by Shuanghui, China's largest processed pork producer. The report sparked a recall of Shuanghui products, along with widespread follow-up media coverage of the clenbuterol problem and a reported crackdown on clenbuterol dealers nationwide. There have been a number of cases in the past decade of illness and fatalities caused by consuming pork with clenbuterol residues. However, there were no reports of illness from consuming Shuanghui pork associated with the current findings and retailers report little or no impact on pork sales following the media reports.

There is a long history of reported clenbuterol use among China's pig producers and eliminating the practice remains a difficult challenge for Ministry of Agriculture regulators who are responsible for feed safety. Reportedly, the steroid is especially prevalent among smaller-scale operators to create a leaner carcass to meet consumer preference for lean pork cuts. The premium for lean carcasses is typically higher when market prices are strong, offsetting the cost of clenbuterol and increasing farmer incentive to skirt the rules and add the substance to feed rations.

China Opens to Pork from Brazil
As China's demand for pork imports continues to rise, China recently expanded its sources of supply by opening to pork from Brazil. This market opening will begin with three pork facilities, with additional facilities added over time. China and Brazil are now finalising certification requirements and shipments are expected to commence in the third quarter of 2011.

Brazil is expected to become a significant competitor in the Chinese pork market as China seeks to diversify its overseas sources beyond the currently approved suppliers (Canada, the EU and the United States).

May 2011