Recently, pork has become a “cheap” in the market。
In liaoning shenyang, there is a market where pork is sold at around $10 per pound, and prices are even lower than those of the green peppers, ginger and garlic。
It's real cheap for people who buy food。
For the farmers, the wave fell a little heavy. The more pigs sell, the faster they lose; the less they sell, the less they fear。
The current market for raw pigs is not a matter of making more and less, but of how long many people can begin to count。
According to monitoring data, prices have indeed reached low levels in recent years。
During the third week of march 2026, data from the market and collection points in 500 counties of the country showed a decline of 2. 6 per cent in the ring, or 30 per cent, per kilogram of pigs and pigs
11. 05 dollars per kilogram of raw pigs, a 2. 9 per cent decline in the ring, and 28 per cent in the same year
Twenty-two dollars per kilogram of pork, a 2. 1 per cent drop in the ring, and a 16. 5 per cent drop in the same year。
The authorities had previously determined that the prices of raw pigs were in excess of one level of early warning zone, influenced by factors such as the fall in consumption after the festival。
This signal is direct, and the market has fallen out of control。
The first-line farm felt more clearly。
In hunan yeung, the company reported that the price of the three foreign pigs was more than $7 per pound in august 2025 and has fallen to more than $5。
In some parts of henan, the price of a pig is between $4. 7 and $6 per pound。
Based on self-sufficiency, this price is no longer affordable。
If manual, utility and depreciation were included, the loss of a pig of $2,300 would not be exaggerated。
A company in henan zhengyang county has accounted for the increase in soybeans to more than 3,000 tons per ton, while the price of oil has risen and the cost of freight has been pushed up, and the company now loses approximately $300 per pig。
If prices do not rise in the long term, the scale of last year's 6,000-pound farming could be $2 million this year。
The trouble is that this is not a minority problem。
There are nearly 17 million pig farmers in the country, the vast majority of them small and medium-sized farmers。
From farming, transportation to slaughtering, sale, there are more than 10 million practitioners。
When the price of pigs drops, the impact is not just on the owner, but on the income of the entire chain。
The market actually gives a few clear answers。
One is oversupply。
The production of raw pigs takes a periodic period and it takes about 10 months to transmit changes in the storage column of the pig。
In the first half of last year, domestic pig production capacity was already relatively high。
This, together with the rapid increase in farming efficiency over the years, the improvement of pig breeding, the upgrading of the coop, and the increased capacity to prevent disease, as well as the availability of more pigs in units of time。
It's like the tap's already open, and it's not gonna work right now。
Since the fourth quarter of 2024, the relevant departments have been leading industries to production capacity。
Since last year, monitoring early warning, alerts for priority provinces and head-on business interviews have advanced。
The production capacity is inertial, not a signal, and the next day it'll be out of the box。
Some farming subjects also have a clear vision。
Prices have improved a little, so they don't want to cut production, and they think, “get rid of others, the opportunity is theirs”。
And that's what everybody thought. The pigs in the market never came down。
The other side is that demand is really light。
Before spring, many families would hoard meat early。
One or two months after the festival, which was already an inventory digestion period, market entry was normal。
This season is not just a seasonal factor。
Changes in population structure and household size, combined with the diversion of chicken, cattle and sheep, aquatic and prefabricated vegetables, make pork consumption less “absolute” than in the past。
Some people think it's better to buy more when it's cheap
The reality is not that simple。
Fresh pork is a quick elimination, and it's not like a discount on electricity。
The vendor also stated that low prices did attract a presence, but the increase in daily sales was not significant。
Most of the meat purchases are based on how much the family can eat three meals a day, not double the price for two pounds。
There is also an easy-to-neglected pusher, market sentiment。
When the price of pigs goes down, it's easy for farmers to get out。
It's not complicated, it's cash-flowing, it's paying back, and it's getting worse。
The hunan company mentioned that it was now fast-tracking to get the cash back。
However, the short-term supply would become more concentrated and prices would continue to be depressed。
It's kind of like a line leaving. The front is crowded and the back is running。
Prices are also particularly sensitive to supply and demand。
Instead of a 5 per cent increase in the pork market, prices fell by only 5 per cent。
In many cases, a little more supplies are available, and prices fall markedly。
So markets seem to be “a little too many” to be channeled to the price level and are often already clearly down。
Nor does this fall mean that all links are as difficult。
Large-scale enterprises rely on size, smart feed and uniform purchasing, and can also mitigate losses by pressing low costs。
Some pig farms with strong managerial capacity and a steady financial chain are also more resilient。
What is really difficult is for small and medium-sized households with small cost-control space and low risk resistance。
The same pig may be lost in large places and may be lost in small places。
A similar situation has occurred in previous years。
Domestic pig prices fell rapidly in 2021, and many farmers experienced deep losses, after which the industry began to lose capacity and prices slowly recovered。
There is a similar logic in overseas markets. Following the recovery of pork supplies in parts of europe in 2023, farm profits were also reduced, suggesting that prices were almost common as long as supplies recovered faster than consumption。
Next, the market rate is going to be a little bit longer。
In industry judgement, the overall price of pork is likely to remain low in the first half of this year。
The second half of the year will have an opportunity to ease the supply-demand relationship when the pre-production capacity regulation is slowly transmitted and consumption is out of the water。
A more realistic move at the moment, or a steady rhythm。
What enterprises can do is to optimize feed formulations, improve feeding efficiency, adjust columning arrangements and minimize the cost per pig。
The policy side has also come。
The state has launched a central collection of frozen pork and has directed the simultaneous scaling up of such collections。
Work is also under way to reduce the target of normal stockholding for the country's able-bodied pigs, to develop production records for large pigs and to continue to strengthen capacity management。
There is one other thing that cannot be ignored: the disease。
The periods of industrial losses are often also times of increased vulnerability。
In order to save money, a number of farmers may shrink in terms of vaccination, medicine and feed。
The books seem to be saving, and the disease has hit them, and the losses are often greater。
The price of pigs is low, and it's easier for consumers to buy meat。
Farmers face a different set of items: cheap sales, costs are not fully reduced and market expectations are weak。
On the one hand, there's the light on the table, and on the other, there's the pressure in the pig farm, which is the most real look of the pig market today。
