In China, the fat pigs were accused of collapses of meat prices. According to Bloomberg, farmers began to refill animals so that they grow twice as long as possible in the hope that large animals will bring higher profits if prices are restored.
Pigs from Shaanxi Province told the agency that many pigs he bought, weigh more than 200 kilograms compared to their usual size of about 125 kilograms. “Some farmers hold their big pigs in the hope of price increases,” he explained.
At the same time, since the beginning of the year, the wholesale prices for pork fell by 40 percent. This happened against the background of sluggish domestic demand, increasing imports and outbreaks of the African plague of pigs. Market players are confident that prices have not yet reached the bottom and continue to fall at least until 2023.
Head of the infectious diseases department of the pigs of the Harbin Research and Research Veterinary Institute Tsu Huadzi believes that the “super-dimensional” pigs are partly to blame for the fall of prices for meat.
Many farmers are trying to quickly sell such animals because they are too expensive to feed. “The fall in pork prices and high prices for corn give bad returns from these large pigs, as they eat more,” admitted one of them.
The peak of the spread of the African plague of pigs in China fell on 2018-2019. In the 2020th, a new outbreak occurred, more than eight million animals were killed. Although the domestic prices for pork in recent months decreased, it is expected that import volumes will remain high, and the proposal deficit will be maintained until the end of the year.