CRI听力:Pork Price Hits Record High in China

Less demand for pork after the festive season of China's traditional Lunar New Year usually causes a price dip, but this year the market has seen an unexpected surge in hog prices.

Statistics show that the hog price is nearly 20 yuan per kilogram, a 60 percent increase from the same period last year when the price was less than 10 yuan.

In March, pork prices increased each week by 10 percent.

Some experts predict the record could be set again in the upcoming weeks.

Feng Yonghui is chief analyst of Soozhu net, a website providing consultative services for pig farmers in China.

"It took only a year for the price to increase rapidly. This has never happened throughout the history of the pig farming industry. Furthermore, the price could still increase and we may have a new record."

Profits of hog farmers have also moved to a new record.

The average profit from raising a hog has almost tripled from the same period last year.

Pig farmers are now frantic to stock up on piglets, hoping to invest further in this area.

Zhang Jun is a pig farmer in Fengyang, a small county in Anhui province.

He has been very busy recently due to the amount of buyers that are interested in his stock.

"I asked for 1,000 yuan for each piglet, but this customer only wants to give me 900. The lowest price is 1,000 yuan on the market. I can't accept a lower price. If he doesn't want it, he can go."

However, it wasn't always like this for pig farmers like Zhang.

Between 2013 and 2015, Zhang Jun lost hope in the pig farming industry.

Large numbers of sow pigs were killed and pig farms were empty due to the price plunges.

Pig farmers lost 400 yuan on each pig they sold.

Many abandoned the business altogether.

Statistics show China had 50 million sow pigs in stock in 2013.

However, the number has dropped to just over 37 million by this January, according the recent figure by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The chief analyst Feng Yonghui explains that farmers' withdrawal from business in the past year, coupled with extreme weather have contributed to the undersupply of pork stocks.

"Diseases and cold weather at the end of 2015 killed a large number of piglets, further decreasing the supply amount. The production of piglets is quite low. That is why the price has jumped so high."

The ministry of Agriculture says the price recovery is good news for pig farmers, yet risks will also mount once pig stock upsurges.

Analysts also warn of price volatility and market risks behind the price hike.

But Feng stated that the price will not be high for long.

"The price would drop with over-supply of pig stocks within just one year. The price has hit record high this year, but it may take a nosedive the next year. This is the so called 'pig price cycle' in which we see a roller-coaster like price fluctuation which is more volatile than that of the stock market."

The analyst predicts the price will go up in July, or August and then will drop for two or three months.

The drop rate could be over 15 percent.

For CRI this is Guo Yan.