January 26, 2012

 

 

For the first time in 10 months, the inventory of hogs of China fell in December, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture.

 

The country had 473.34 million hogs at the end of December as tracked by the ministry, a 0.61% decline from November, according to the January 17 statement. That is the first decline since February of last year. On an annual basis, the inventory of hogs in December increased 5.1% from a year earlier, according to the statement.

 

A shortage of hogs in 2010 and early last year fuelled increases in pork prices and stoked inflation. Food price gains accelerated in December from November for the first time in five months, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.