Pork supplies for China’s upcoming Lunar New Year are projected 30 percent higher than year-ago levels. A Chinese agriculture official says the recovery will reduce prices compared with last year during the holiday.
China’s Lunar New Year holiday is known as the country’s most important holiday where pork is traditionally served at millions of family meals. It will begin February 11, 2021.
Chinese agriculture officials tell Reuters that pig producers have built 12,500 new large-scale pig farms in the first three quarters of the year and restarted more than 13,000 empty farms.
Officials say the recovery had been “better than expected” from African swine fever, which impacted at least 40 percent of China’s hog herd. The increased pork supplies reflect the recovery, but also large imports of pork.
The U.S. Meat Export Federation says through August, exports to China and Hong Kong more than doubled last year’s totals in both volume and value.