China Guides Reduction of Pig Farming Scale as Pork Consumption Declines

China has announced plans to guide the reduction of pig farming scale. This comes as pork consumption declines and prices plummet amid an economic slowdown.

According to major foreign media on the 23rd, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China held a press conference and stated that last year, due to an oversupply of pork, farmers suffered significant losses, and they will guide the reduction of pig production scale.

In China, the world's largest pork consumer, the scale of pig farming has rapidly expanded in recent years as large pig farming enterprises have pursued modernization. However, as the economy slowed, Chinese consumers tightened their wallets even for pork, leading to a sharp drop in pork prices last year, increased losses for farmers, and rising debt.

Lei Liugong, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that pig farmers suffered an average loss of 76 yuan (about 14,000 won) per pig last year. He explained, "Farmers facing difficulties accelerated pig slaughtering at the end of last year to reduce losses, resulting in pork production reaching 57.94 million tons, the highest in nine years."

Director Lei stated that as of the end of December last year, the number of sows was counted at 41.42 million, down 2.5 million from 2022. Although the number of pigs remains large and slaughtering will continue for the next month or two, causing prices to keep falling, the reduction in breeding sows will help market recovery in the second quarter of this year.

In China, pork prices hold the largest weight in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). However, due to consumption contraction caused by economic sluggishness, pork prices fell by more than 40% last year.

On the same day, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also announced that along with reducing pig farming scale, the amount of high-protein soybeans used in livestock feed will also be reduced. China is the world's largest soybean importer.