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Too ‘fatty’: China has a glut of pork but consumers aren’t biting
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Pork stalls at a wet market in central Beijing, China, on April 17.
ST PHOTO: MICHELLE NG
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
- China faces a massive pork oversupply, driving wholesale prices to an eight-year low and causing significant losses for pig farmers across the country.
- Despite cheaper pork, demand is weak as Chinese middle-class consumers increasingly shift to healthier, "lighter" proteins like chicken and fish.
- Beijing is intervening to stabilise the market, urging capacity reduction and initiating frozen pork stockpiling to address the persistent supply-demand imbalance.
AI generated
BEIJING – Madam Liu Xingxiang has not bought meat since the Spring Festival in February, despite noticing that the price of pork, her family’s protein of choice, has dropped.
The 60-year-old retired small-business owner said she had already stocked up on meat during the festive season, and in any case, her family has been eating less of it these days.
