Skip to content

Pigs Fly in as China Replenishes World’s Biggest Hog Herd

  • Asia

Kroger Posts 30 Percent Jump in March Comparable Sales, Borrows $1 Billion

Kroger Co’s comparable sales surged about 30 percent in March as consumers stockpiled due to the CCP virus pandemic, and the grocer said it had borrowed $1 billion to boost its cash reserve as it prepared for any fallout from the health crisis. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based company’s shares rose about 5 percent after the supermarket chain also maintained its forecast for the year, especially when most of its rivals have scrapped their estimates due to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus-related uncertainty. Kroger, however, said it was being conservative about its expectations due to a fluid environment caused by the outbreak. “It is too early to speculate what will emerge as the ‘new normal’ in food consumption at home or what the impact on sales will be in future periods,”…

Pigs Fly in as China Replenishes World’s Biggest Hog Herd

BEIJING鈥擲ix planes carrying more than 4,000 high-quality French breeding pigs have arrived in China so far this year, the first of an expected dozens of plane-loads as the world’s top pork producer rebuilds its decimated hog herd.

China is ramping up imports as it rushes to restock after an outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) swept through the country from late 2018, killing tens of millions of pigs and reducing its sow herd by as much as 60 percent.

Soaring pork prices and a government drive to rebuild have prompted farmers who had halted buying to resume orders, with some doubling contracts that had been signed prior to the disease. Each charter is worth up to 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million).

“It’s like after World War Two. They lost half the herd and need to repopulate fast to get it back,” said Marie Pushparajalingam, global strategist for French swine genetics company Axiom.

China imports breeding pigs to take advantage of traits like increased productivity and better meat quality that global genetics firms select for during breeding. A top breeding sow can have a litter of as many as 16 piglets.

Axiom sent two 777 charters to China in January, followed by two 747s last month, totaling about 3,400 pigs. It has signed deals for a further six plane-loads later in the year, said Pushparajalingam, and is expecting additional business.

Another 500 boars bred by Dutch firm Topigs Norsvin arrived from France in southwestern Guizhou last week, said China’s Dekang Group, which will use the pigs in a nucleus breeding farm to produce 20 million pigs for slaughter.

China typically slaughters about 700 million pigs a year to produce more than 50 million tonnes of pork鈥攁bout half of global consumption. But the disease outbreak cut pork output by 21 percent in 2019, sending prices soaring, and production is set to fall again this year.

Fattened hogs in China currently cost about 35 yuan ($4.93) a kilogram, or three times the price in France.

Under pressure to meet government targets for pork production, some provinces began offering import subsidies of about 2,000 yuan per pig to farmers last month.

Producers face a severe shortage of sows and are even holding back females normally destined for slaughter to use in breeding farms. Those pigs will produce much smaller litters than a sow bred to be a productive mother.

Imports from France alone this year look set to top the 11,000 pigs China imported from all countries in 2017, a year after pork prices hit a record.

In all, China may need more than 150 plane loads of pure bred pigs to replenish its herd, according to one genetics company estimate.

Pigs Fly in as China Replenishes World’s Biggest Hog Herd Pigs are seen on the back of a truck outside a slaughterhouse in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China on Dec. 22, 2017. (Reuters)

New ASF Cases

African swine fever was detected in seven dead wild boars in Shennongjia Forestry District in Hubei Province, China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced last month.

The disclosure of a new ASF outbreak in central China has raised concerns that another large precautionary culling of millions of Chinese pigs could threaten food security and drive food prices much higher.

That risk has intensified with the World Organization for Animal Health聽reporting聽that new outbreaks of ASF have recently been reported near China鈥檚 northern and southern borders.

Pandemic Complicates Shipment

China’s customs has said it will allow more countries to ship live pigs, and is also working to resume exports from the United States, which has not been able to export to China during recent trade tensions.

Still, cumbersome quarantine procedures for importing pigs and obstacles related to the coronavirus outbreak will limit overall numbers.

Before shipment, pigs must undergo a month of health checks and spend another 30 days in quarantine under observation by an official Chinese vet. On arrival, the pigs spend a further 45 days in a quarantine center to ensure they are disease free.

The coronavirus pandemic has further complicated shipments, said Laurent Poussart, manager of Francexporc, a pig freight specialist.

A sharp reduction in cargo planes flying between Europe and China is driving up costs, and China does not permit foreign airline crew to disembark.

Poussart’s latest cargo to China arrived just a day before the Chinese airline he was using cancelled all further flights to and from Europe.

By Dominique Patton. Chriss Street contributed to this report.

This article is from the Internet:Pigs Fly in as China Replenishes World’s Biggest Hog Herd

Nearly 1,300 More CCP Virus Patients Hospitalized in New York as Death Toll Approaches 2,000

Nearly 1,300 new COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in New York in the past day as 391 more patients died in the hardest-hit state in the nation. COVID-19 is a new disease caused by the聽CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus. New York officials reported 12,226 patients are now hospitalized with the disease, an increase of 1,297 from the day prior. Patients in intensive care rose to 3,022, an increase of 312, while the death toll from COVID-19 rose to 1,941. Another 1,167 patients were discharged from hospitals, bringing the total number of discharged to 6,142. New York is by far the most affected state in the nation, according to figures shown by state officials during a press conference in Albany. Paramedics push a gurney with a…