Hong Kong was hit with record pork prices in the past week with African swine fever reducing the supply of live pigs from mainland China and the food and health minister warning of an ongoing shortage.
As the outbreak’s damage continued, there were fears the private Tsuen Wan slaughterhouse faced closure because of the recent drop in mainland pigs.
Pork trade representatives described pig auction prices, which reached more than HK$4,000 (17,000 baht) per picul, this week, as at “record high” level, more than double the roughly HK$1,600 in May. While the average price had dropped to HK$2,557 on Saturday, it was still around 60 per cent higher than the May price. A picul is an Asia a unit of weight equal to 60 kilogrammes.
Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee, the city’s food and health secretary, wrote in a blog on Saturday that the culling of more than 1 million pigs on the mainland in the past year had greatly affected the supply in Hong Kong. The virus is deadly to hogs but harmless to humans.
“We feel anxious about the current shrinkage in supply and soaring prices,” Chan wrote. “Facing this epidemic, which has been around for 100 years, the live pig supply might not quickly return to the past level within a short period of time.”
Pork prices in Hong Kong soared after the city reported two cases of African swine fever in May. The cases resulted in the temporary closure of the city’s abattoirs and a cull of almost 11,000 pigs to prevent the spread of the virus. It also cost taxpayers HK$40 million in government compensation to pig suppliers in Hong Kong.
In Sha Tin market, butcher Ling Oi-chun said the price of pigs at one point in the past week reached HK$4,400 per picul, a traditional Chinese unit equivalent to around 60kg.
She said the rise in prices had led to a drop in business.
“My business plunged by one-third this week,” Ling said. “Customers have been asking whether the prices of pork has dropped.”
Retail prices of lean pork at her stall had increased from last week’s around HK$70 per catty, a Chinese unit which is about 600 grams, to HK$88 on Saturday. Before the reports of the virus, the price was around HK$40 to HK$50 per catty.
Opposite to Ling’s stall was another pork vendor, Kong Ling, who was also feeling the pain of slow business as wholesale prices had increased.
“I dare not raise much prices because customers could be scared away,” Kong said. “I cannot make profits at all. Some pork stalls are waiting to close down the businesses.”
A shopper surnamed Law spent HK$250 for two pork chops and more than 600 grammes of lean pork.
“In the past, I could purchase these, plus two more pork chops and two more pieces of pork shank for under HK$200,” said Law.
“I have already felt numb [with the price rise],” she said. “The prices were rising every week and so I am buying less.”
Lam Wing-yuen, vice-chairman of Hong Kong Livestock Industry Association, attributed the price rises to the reduced supply of pigs from the mainland to Hong Kong.
According to statistics from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the daily amount of mainland pigs supplied to Hong Kong has dropped in the past two weeks from 2,004 on July 1 to 1,481 on Friday. The number, however, rose to 1,987 on Saturday.
Lam said there were fewer pigs in the mainland because African swine fever had affected at least 70 per cent of its pig farms.
Hui Wai-kin, of the Pork Traders General Association of Hong Kong, said some mainland pig farms were afraid to supply pigs to Hong Kong out of fear that their business would be disrupted if problems were found with their pigs
Chan, the food and health minister, said the government had spoken to mainland authorities about increasing the pig supply, as well as to local pork traders to understand their opinion.