January 15, 2021

China to release 30,0000 tonnes from pork reserve

China's Merchandise Reserve Management Centre has announced that China will release 30,000 tonnes of frozen pork from the country's central reserve on January 15 after 20,000 tonnes were released on January 7.

The release is a result of rising pork prices over the past month. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 11, pork prices rose to 6.5% in December, compared to a 6.5% drop in November, driving the December CPI up by 0.28%.

"Seasonally stronger pork demand toward the end of the year (especially amid the services sector recovery), tighter regulations for meat shipments across different regions in China and limited pork imports due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in overseas markets may have jointly contributed to higher prices between December from November," Japanese financial services company Nomura said.

On January 11, China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued a notice urging local governments to continue research into genetic enchantment for livestock while stressing the need to support establishing more breeding farms to promote the recovery of the pork industry.

According to China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, hog stocks and breeding sow stocks recovered to more than 90%  to pre-African swine fever (ASF) levels as of end-November, and may return to normal levels in the first half of 2021.

Nomura expected pork supplies may increase by 30% year-on-year in the spring of 2021.

Chinanews.com reported that China had released 38 times from its frozen pork reserve last year, resulting in a cumulative total of 670,000 tonnes.

 - Global Times