April 3, 2012

China's pig farmers foresee looming mass bankruptcy

China's pig farmers are worrying that pork prices might stay low until mid-2013, despite assurances of government support, adding that around 50% may go bankrupt within seven months.

It takes the prices of pigs at least 14 months to rebound back to the normal level, Chang Wen-shan, chairman of the Pingtung County Pig Farmers Association board of directors said yesterday, adding about 50-60% of the country's pig farmers may go bankrupt.

Pingtung, with its 1.5 million pigs, is the country's number-one pig farming county.

"The rest will likely suffer heavy financial losses," he said.

The price-stabilising measures announced by the Council of Agriculture may work in the future, but are incapable of raising prices now, he continued, adding "even if the price of pigs can be raised from over TWD5,000 (US$170) per 100 kilogrammes to more than TWD6,000 (US$204), pig farmers will still lose money."

During an interpellation session at the Legislature a few days ago, COA Minister Chen Bao-ji vowed to revert pig prices to the basic level at TWD6,500 (US$221), per kilogramme. Chen also immediately committed 9,000 slaughtered hogs to cold storage and ordered an end to above-quota raising by large pig farms.

According to Chang, price stabilisation must begin from scratch, and the total number of pigs must be kept under control.