Pork prices soar
17/8/2004 11:12
Rachel Hou / Shanghai Daily news
The Youth Daily
reported that the wholesale price of pork has increased by 35 percent. It now
costs 13.5 yuan(US$1.6) per kilogram up from 10 yuan(US$1.2) per kilogram for
the corresponding period last year.
The increase has been attributable to the
rising cost of pig feed and an insufficient supply of pork. New traffic
regulations, which took effect from May 1st , impose tough penalties on
overloaded vans, pig transportation has been notoriously overloaded. A local
pork vender revealed that: "Due to the heavy penalty for overloading, the cost
of transporting the pigs outweighs the profit. Importing pork is a less
lucrative business and now imports are down" .
Currently, imports from other
provinces make up more than 50 percent of the local domestic pork supply.
Locally produced pork supply is on the decline because of the 264 farms which
will be shut down in the near future, amount to 30 percent of all the local
farms.
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