Pork prices in China have surged to new highs in the past two weeks, adding pressure on a government trying to contain food-price inflation during the trade war with the US, said the Wall Street Journal.
Prices of the mainstay—used in dishes such as lunchtime dumplings and spicy mapo tofu—have risen 18% in China since the week ended Aug. 9 and are up more than 50% in the past year. The average price of pork, excluding offal, in the week ended Aug. 23 was RMB 31.77 a kilogram ($2.02 a pound), according to data from China’s Ministry of Commerce.
African swine fever has decimated pork supplies. China’s pig herd had fallen 32% on year in July, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Analysts expect 2019 production could fall as much as 30% and drop further in 2020.