There has been a surge is positive tests for African Swine Fever in China’s main hog-producing provinces in the north.
There were as many positives in January as for the entire previous year, reports Reuters news agency.
Jim Long of Genesus Pork, which sells breeding stock to China, said African Swine Fever is the reason marketings of pigs of all sizes and ages have recently increased.
An initial wave during 2018 and 2019 killed millions of pigs and led to a global increase in in meat prices.
Chinese farms have significantly improved hygiene and procedures since then to reduce the impact of the virus, but it still circulates constantly, often spiking in winter, said Reuters,
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"We guess that the current swine fever infection area in northern production areas may be reaching 50 per cent,” said analysts at Huachuang Securities in a report on Monday.
Reuters quoted an anonymous farm manager saying the outbreak has not yet subsided.
"We continue to believe the low China hog price is due to many pigs going to slaughter at any weight due to ASF [out]breaks,”Long wrote in a report this week.
