In October this year, the price of pork in China decreased by 30% compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the sales volume of the three major listed pork companies, Muyuan Stock, New Hope, and Wens Foodstuff Group, increased in October. However, their revenue showed a decline compared to the same period last year.
Recently, the three major listed pork companies in China, Muyuan Stock, New Hope, and Wens Foodstuff Group, released their sales data for October.
According to a report by The Paper on November 7th, Muyuan Stock sold 7.076 million head of commercial pigs in October, an increase of 26.97% month-on-month and 13.17% year-on-year. Wens Foodstuff Group saw a month-on-month increase of 17.07% in sales of live pigs and a year-on-year increase of 45.69%. New Hope had a month-on-month increase of 20.86% and a year-on-year increase of 34.44% in live pig sales.
While the sales volume increased, the revenue from live pig sales for the three major listed pork companies showed a year-on-year decline. In October, Muyuan Stock’s revenue from commercial pig sales dropped by 22.28% year-on-year. Wens Foodstuff Group saw a 13.15% year-on-year decrease in live pig sales revenue. New Hope’s revenue from live pig sales decreased by 7.83% year-on-year.
Simultaneously, the average selling prices for live pigs for the three major listed companies all decreased month-on-month and year-on-year, with a range of 10% to 13% and 32% to 36% respectively. Muyuan Stock’s average selling price for commercial pigs was 11.55 yuan per kilogram, down 10.33% month-on-month and 32.73% year-on-year. Wens Foodstuff Group’s average selling price for hogs was 11.57 yuan per kilogram, down 12.22% month-on-month and 34.41% year-on-year. New Hope’s average selling price for commercial pigs was 11.28 yuan per kilogram, down 12.49% month-on-month and 35.06% year-on-year.
Overall, since the Chinese New Year this year, the price of live pigs in China has been running at low levels. Since mid-August, the pig prices have been declining at an accelerated pace, and in September and October, the prices continued to fall. Previously, The Paper reported that from October 13th to 15th, the price of live pigs dropped below 11 yuan per kilogram, at 10.92 yuan per kilogram, 10.89 yuan per kilogram, and 10.95 yuan per kilogram respectively. The average price for the week was 11 yuan per kilogram.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pan Gu Institute, told the Beijing Business Daily that the current pig prices have fallen below the cost line of most breeding entities, which is between 13 yuan per kilogram and 14 yuan per kilogram.