Prices for blue in CHINA are rising. For some time now, everyone has been expecting hog prices in China to start to improve in the second quarter of 2022 due to the liquidation that began in July 2021. There seemed to be a lot more sows going to slaughter than official Chinese sources report. Now, after 8-9 months, fewer pigs are coming to the market. Who knows how many sows are actually sent to slaughter, but prices are the best indicator.
From March 18 to May 20, the price of slaughter pigs in China rose on the national average from 11.98 yuan/kg (0.85 usd / lb) to 16.01 yuan/kg (1.08 USD), representing represents an increase of 27%.
Perhaps the biggest upswing in the weaned piglet market in the past few weeks has attracted the most attention. Weaned piglet prices have always been considered a leading indicator of the future hog market. Recently, there have been many requests from small, medium and large producers for a large number of piglets. Since April 22, the average price of 7 kg weaned piglets has risen to 543 yuan (81.28 US dollars) per month, i.e. by 32.5%.
After the surge in hog prices that began in April, many producers shed their long-term losses and returned to profitability. The reported profit from fattening weaned piglets is currently 194 yuan ($30) per HEAD. There is a lot of discussion about the situation in the Chinese pork market in the second half of the year. We expect that as fewer and fewer pigs enter the market this month as a result of the long herd liquidation, prices will continue to rise.