China produced a record-breaking 57.9 million metric tonners of pork in 2023, with the annual output up by 4.6% on the previous year, according to a report by Reuters.
The fourth quarter of 2023 saw an increase in production of 7% on the previous year, bringing in 14.9 million metric tons of pork product, according to Reuters calculations of data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
See also: Banned pork products from Belgium allowed back into China after ASF outbreak
It comes as a result of farmers having to ramp up rates of slaughter considerably to cut losses after an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) at the end of last year.
China’s latest outbreak, which followed on from more serious ones in 2018 and 2019, saw farmers having to kill millions of pigs to stop a recurrent spread of ASF.
The surge in production also coincided with issues farmers in China faced following a downturn in demand after an aggressive expansion in recent years, making them cut back on breeding herds and forcing them to sell farms.
In a note, Huachuang Securities said that these varied and sustained long-term losses have led to a tight cash flow across the Chinese pork industry, but that the future could be more promising.
“Against the backdrop of continuous low hog prices, reduction in production capacity is expected to accelerate and sustain with strength,” it said.
However, expected uptake for the Chinese New Year on 10 February has also been slower than expected, as reported by swineweb.
An overabundance of live pig supplies has also caused a further drop in slaughter pig prices at the beginning 2024, meaning that pork producers in China are having to cover their own production costs.
The oversupply is also increasingly affecting China’s import demand for pork products, according to reports by Agra Europe.
China recently announced it has banned pork exports from Bangladesh due to an outbreak there, but has also recently lifted the ban on pork products from Belgium entering the country.
