China: Govt. to buy frozen pork to support hog prices
28.04.2012
China will increase State purchases of frozen pork to elevate prices, amid mounting concerns that farmers’ profit margins are being squeezed as the prices of live hogs fall, China’s top economic planning agency said Friday.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said that average farm-gate prices of pork had fallen to 14.60 yuan (US$2.30) per kilogram the week before last, a level below the 6:1 ratio of pork-to-grain prices it seeks to maintain as a minimum.
“We will start State reserve purchases of frozen pork at an appropriate time to help stabilize live hog prices and to avoid massive losses in pig farming,” the NDRC said in a statement on its Web site.
