June 8, 2009
China to buy frozen pork to support hog prices
China's government is preparing for the purchase of frozen pork to prevent hog prices from falling further, the country's top economic planner said Friday (June 5).
The government is usually expected to intervene when hog prices aren't at least six times corn prices, and the ratio has been below 6:1 for four weeks now.
The government is now preparing for pork purchases in line with the regulations issued earlier, said the National Development and Reform Commission in a statement published on its Web site.
The ratio between hog and corn prices is now 5.87:1, the lowest since November 2006, it said.
China's average piglet price was RMB15,120 a tonne May 27, down 11 percent from a month ago, and was the second on-month decline of more than 10 percent in a row, it said.
Meanwhile, an on-month decline in the number of female hogs reflected a declining interest in breeding them, which will correct the oversupply situation in the market, it added.
