China's pork production boom exceeds demand

Analysts say the industry needs to shrink, but companies, backed by friendly banks and officials, are willing to spend until prices rise again.

China's pork production was 57.94 million metric tons in 2023, up 4.6 percent from 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics of CHINA reported.

Pork production last year was the largest in bureau statistics since 2014. it exceeded the five-year plan target of 55 million tons for 2025. The slaughter of pigs was the third largest in history. The only time more pigs were slaughtered in China was in 2013-2014.

The figures imply 79.7kg of MEAT per pig, up 500g on the previous year and 2kg on 2014. Increasing carcass weight has become common in China in the 4 years since the African swine fever epidemic.