China has announced that it will release 10,000 metric tons of pork from its central reserves this week to address the swine fever crisis.
The decision of China to release the pork reserves is aimed at stabilizing the price of pork and address the crisis caused by the swine fever which killed almost one third of the pigs in the country.
China Merchandise Reserve Management Center, a state-owned company that manages the reserves, said that the frozen pork will be sold through online auction.
The pork reserves were imported from the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, France and Chile. Among its major suppliers are Smithfield, Clemens Food and Seaboard from the US and Danish Crown from Denmark.
According to the reserve management center, the release order came from several government agencies, including the Ministry of Commerce and the Agricultural Development Bank of China.
An advance sign up will be required for companies looking to participate in the auction and they will be vetted by the Commerce Ministry before the bidding starts on Thursday. Bidders could purchase up to 300 tons only.
The African swine fever outbreak in China has resulted in the loss of over 100 million pigs in 2018 either due to death from the disease or because farmers decided not to restock pigs following the deaths. The crisis has pushed pork prices by almost 50% last year.
The decision to boost the supply of pork, which is a staple in Chinese cuisine, was made in preparation of the upcoming celebration of the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China early next month.
Subsidies totaling to about $452 million have been given by the Chinese government to help low-income families struggling to buy pork at current prices. At least four Chinese cities or provinces have already released some of their local frozen pork reserves in the past few weeks prior to the central government's decision.
