Due to African swine fever, the supply of live pigs to Hong Kong has dropped by 60%, and pork prices in Hong Kong have soared nearly 1.5 times

Since the outbreak of African swine fever in May last year, the supply of live pigs in Hong Kong has not returned to its previous level. On March 20th, the Hong Kong China Fresh Meat Federation pointed out that in the past 10 months, the average daily supply of live pigs has sharply decreased from about 4000 before the outbreak of swine fever to about 1700, and this month it is only about 1600, with an average decline of over 60%. This has caused pork prices to soar nearly 1.5 times, forcing citizens to "endure" pigs. Legislative Council member Tommy Cheung pointed out that he has reflected to the government and urged them to increase the supply of live pigs to achieve stable prices.

The chairman of the association, Ling Weiye, stated that due to the tight supply of live pigs, the price inevitably rose from about 1300 yuan per pack before African swine fever, which was about 2800 yuan per pack since June last year. This month, it continued to rise to 3300 yuan, and the highest price has even increased by more than 4000 yuan. The average price of fresh pork has increased by nearly 1.5 times, causing inconvenience to the industry and citizens.

Xu Weijian, Chairman of the Hong Kong Pork Industry Association, said that the situation has now become a serious livelihood issue, with supply exceeding demand leading to a surge in fresh pork prices, causing citizens to "endure" expensive pork prices. At the same time, thousands of practitioners who rely on live pig trading are also struggling to make ends meet due to insufficient or even no pork sales. He revealed that about 45% of employees have been unemployed or under employed in recent months.

Legislative Councilor Tommy Cheung from the catering industry and Legislative Councilor Shao Jiahui from the wholesale and retail industry, who assist the industry, have reported to the government the severe situation faced by the industry, urging the government to increase the supply of live pigs, accelerate compliance with requirements, achieve stable prices, so that citizens do not have to bear expensive pork prices, and assist thousands of practitioners who rely on live pig trading.