January 20, 2024

China achieves record pork production in 2023

China has set a new record by producing 57.9 million metric tonnes of pork in 2023, marking a 4.6% increase from the previous year, Pig World reported.

The final quarter of 2023 witnessed a notable surge, with a 7% rise in production, contributing 14.9 million metric tonnes of pork products, as calculated by Reuters based on data from China's National Bureau of Statistics.

This surge in pork production can be attributed to farmers intensifying slaughter rates significantly to mitigate losses following an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at the end of the previous year. The latest ASF outbreak, following more severe ones in 2018 and 2019, compelled farmers to cull millions of pigs to prevent the recurrent spread of the disease.

The upswing in production coincided with challenges faced by Chinese farmers due to reduced demand following aggressive expansion in recent years. This led to a contraction in breeding herds and compelled farmers to sell farms.

Huachuang Securities noted in a statement that sustained long-term losses have resulted in a tight cash flow across the Chinese pork industry. However, it anticipates a more promising future with a potential acceleration and sustainability of production capacity reduction amid continuous low hog prices.

Despite these positive indicators, the expected uptake for the Chinese New Year on February 10 has been slower than anticipated. Swineweb reported a surplus of live swine supplies causing a further decline in slaughter swine prices at the beginning of 2024, forcing Chinese pork producers to cover their production costs.

The oversupply is also impacting China's import demand for pork products.

China has announced it has banned pork exports from Bangladesh due to an outbreak there. The country has also recently lifted the ban on imports of pork products from Belgium.

-       Pig World