FILE PHOTO: A student feeds pigs at a farm next to a primary school in Xuanwei, Yunnan province, China, December 22, 2018. REUTERS/Darley Shen
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s hog production is expected to bottom out before the end of 2019 and recover to normal levels in 2020, an agriculture ministry official said on Thursday.
Pig inventories at large-scale farms have already bottomed out and started to rebound, Yang Zhenhai, director of the Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Production and sales of pig feed have also picked up, Yang added.
A deadly African swine fever disease has slashed China’s pig herd by at least 40% from a year earlier, and pushed prices of the country’s favorite meat to record high levels.
Reporting by Hallie Gu and Shivani Singh; editing by Darren Schuettler
