SunSirs: China Domestic Live Pig Prices Fluctuate Sideways

According to data from SunSirs' Spot Market Monitor, domestic prices for commercial live pigs (three-way crossbreeds) trended with a slight downward bias last week. The average price stood at 9.62 RMB/kg at the beginning of the week and 9.60 RMB/kg by the weekend, marking a decline of 0.21% over the week.

Entering mid-May, the volume of pigs marketed by large-scale breeding enterprises saw a slight decline, while demand in the downstream meat market remained persistently sluggish. Taken together, the interplay between supply and demand in the domestic live pig market has reached a stalemate. Consequently, domestic live pig prices face a dilemma—finding it difficult to either rise or fall significantly—and this week, prices have seen mixed movements across different regions, trending sideways with minor fluctuations overall.

Last week, domestic corn prices trended with a slight downward bias, falling by a modest 0.06% over the week, while pig prices experienced minor fluctuations. This week, the domestic pig-to-grain price ratio continues to hover around 4.1:1, indicating that the domestic live pig breeding industry as a whole remains in a state of deep financial loss.

SunSirs' Live Pig Product Analyst observes: Policy initiatives are driving the reduction of excess capacity within the live pig breeding industry. However, domestic live pig inventories remain persistently high, ensuring a continuous supply of pigs to the market, while demand in the downstream meat market remains sluggish. In the short term, the pressure of strong supply against weak demand in the domestic meat market is unlikely to abate; therefore, pig prices are expected to remain under pressure, trending sideways with a slight downward bias.

SunSirs has been continuously tracking price data for over 200 commodities for nearly 20 years, please contact support@sunsirs.com for subscription.