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Chinese Pork Prices Soar

Rise triggers inflation, which reverberates around the world

By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 8, 2007 8:23 AM CDT
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(Newser) – This price of pigs and pork in China has skyrocketed this year, nudging up domestic inflation and triggering worries about a domino effect in worldwide markets. The government is scrambling to react to pressure on the price of the vital commodity, the Times reports, even weighing the possibility of releasing part of the intriguingly named strategic pork reserve.

Rising vet bills and feed prices—the growing demand for ethanol cuts into the supply of corn—have helped drive the jump, which in turn is causing consumers to cut back and turn to other sources of protein. More worrisome for the government are the big-picture implications for income inequality, rising wages, and the export market for low-priced consumer goods.

A Chinese stock investor walks past a price board.
A Chinese stock investor walks past a price board.   (Getty Images)
Chinese investors walk past a stock prices board.
Chinese investors walk past a stock prices board.   (Getty Images)
A Chinese 100 renminbi (yuan) note.
A Chinese 100 renminbi (yuan) note.   (Getty Images (by Event))
A resident pays for pork at a market in Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province.
A resident pays for pork at a market in Chengdu, southwestern China's Sichuan province.   (Associated Press)
A pork vendor waits for customers at a market in Chengdu of China's Sichuan province on Monday, May 28 2007. Fifty-six people in southern China were sickened after eating pork at a village fair, state media said. Mass poisonings are common in China, which has been struggling to improve a...
A pork vendor waits for customers at a market in Chengdu of China's Sichuan province on Monday, May 28 2007. Fifty-six people in southern China were sickened after eating pork at a village fair, state...   (Associated Press)
A worker cleans a pig farm, one of national pork reserves base, in Shanghai, eastern China.
A worker cleans a pig farm, one of national pork reserves base, in Shanghai, eastern China.   (Associated Press)
Pigs in a pen on the outskirts of Beijing, 27 April 2007.
Pigs in a pen on the outskirts of Beijing, 27 April 2007.   (Getty Images)
Pigs are seen in a pen.
Pigs are seen in a pen.   (Getty Images (by Event))
Pigs in their pen at a farm in Hefei, central China's Anhui province.
Pigs in their pen at a farm in Hefei, central China's Anhui province.   (Getty Images (by Event))
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The official state news agency weighs in on the tight supply
Xinhua (China)

More on the Chinese pork market
New York Sun

More on the vagaries of porcine supply and demand
Wall Street Journal

 
China • food • inflation • world economy • pig • pork

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