China Pork Output Boom Outpaced Demand
China increased its pork output in 2023 to a near-record level. But prices plummeted, indicating the market didn’t want that much pork.
Analysts say the industry needs to downsize, but companies backed by friendly banks and officials are content to burn through cash until prices pop again.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported that 726.6 million hogs were slaughtered in China during 2023, a 3.8-percent increase from 2022. The volume of pork produced was 57.94 million metric tons, a 4.6-percent increase from 2022.
Last year’s pork output was the largest reported in the Bureau’s statistics since 2014. It exceeded the target of 55 million metric tons for 2025 set by the 5-year plan. Hog slaughter was the third highest ever reported. The only time China slaughtered more hogs was during 2013-14.
The numbers imply 79.7 kg of meat per hog, a 500-gram increase from the previous year and 2-kg more than in 2014. Heavier hogs are consistent with reports of widespread “secondary fattening”–purchasing mature hogs and raising them to even heavier weights–that has become common in China during the 4 years since the African swine fever epidemic.
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