Market News & Headlines >> China's Sow Herd Shrunk Again in October

The size of China’s sow herd contracted for the fourth straight month in October as poor margins for producers continued to cause herd liquidation, however, the herd size remained larger than a year earlier.

China's sow herd at the end of October totaled 43.48 million head, down 2.5% from the previous month, but 6.6% larger than last year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Friday. Earlier this month, the agriculture ministry said the sow herd was 6% larger than normal but was expected to reach a reasonable level by early 2022.

In an interim plan for hog breeding capacity issued in late September, the ministry said the target for the sow herd was now around 41 million head for 2021-2025 and should be no lower than 37 million head. Previous guidelines jointly issued by the agriculture ministry, China's state planner and other authorities in August had set the target at 40-43 million head.

China posted its highest third-quarter pork output since 2018 and its January-September pork production was up 38% over a year earlier. The increase in domestic production has led to a drop in China’s pork imports. Chinese customs data released last week showed China’s October pork imports were down 41.1% from a year earlier, with January-October imports down 7.7%.