China's pork supply and prices to stay stable in 2010

China's pork supply and price would largely remain stable this year and the current rise of pork price would not lead to inflation.

 

Wang Bin, deputy director of the department of Market Operation Regulation of the Ministry of Commerce, said at a news briefing on Monday (Jan 11) that pork price was recovering from the decline last June, but the rise remained in a reasonable range.

 

China's live hog price fell 40% year-on-year to RMB9.56/kg (US$1.40/kg) last June due to oversupply. The wholesale price of pork plummeted to RMB14/kg (US$2.05/kg).

 

Due to various measures adopted by the government to combat declining prices, the market picked up in the second half of 2009.

 

According to Wang, live hog prices rose to RMB12.36/kg in the first week of 2010, an increase of 29% compared with six months ago. The wholesale pork prices also grew 22% to RMB17/kg. 

 

Meanwhile, he predicted that pork price would rise at a modest rate in the near term with the forthcoming Lunar New Year likely to push up demand for pork. However, the price would drop with declining demand after the festival.

 

Wang also said the ministry would strengthen regulation and supervision over daily necessities to prevent drastic price fluctuations.