Wen’s Food Group plans new pig complex in Anhui, China

Wen’s Food Group recently signed an agreement involving a new project－a pig complex－with the government of Suzhou City, Anhui Province.
According to the report of Wen’s Group, the company plans to invest US$92.88 million to build a feed mill, four pig breeding farms and an office building. Based on the model of “Company Plus Family Farms,”the project adopts the integrated operation that concerns the whole industrial chain. The products to be produced are sold by the complex can put 600,000 head pigs on the market.
Wen’s Group currently owns more than 170 subsidiaries in 23 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions). The total assets of Wen’s total US$3.84 billion and the sales revenue of the group in 2014 was US$5.88 billion.
In terms of industrial structure, the business of the Group is dominated by traditional animal farming of which the output value of the poultry division (40 percent) and pig division (55 percent) accounts for 95 percent of the total output value of Wen’s Group.
The size of the hog supply of Wen’s to the domestic market is now the largest among all players in China. In 2014, a total of 12.18 million hogs were sold by Wen’s Group.

China releases specifications to prevent, control ASF

In response to cases of African swine fever (ASF) reported internationally, the Ministry of Agriculture of People’s Republic of China (MOA) released the Technical Specifications for Prevention and Control of ASF (Trial) on November 24. The specifications were released to help the Chinese agency fully implement the National Medium-and-Long Term Animal Disease Control Plan (2012-2020) and guarantee the sustainable development of the pig industry and effective supply of pork products.
The specifications that apply to any related entities and individuals involved in the preventative activities in China establish the prevention and control measures including the diagnosis, submission, confirmation, epidemic response and prevention of African swine fever (ASF).
According to the specifications, any entity or individual that finds unusual death of hogs and wild boars such as the vaccine failure of classical swine fever and massive deaths of hogs for unknown causes should immediately report to the local veterinary authorities, animal health supervision institutions or animal disease prevention and control institutions. Clinically suspected cases of ASF identified by county animal disease prevention and control institutions should be submitted to local veterinary authorities in two hours and then to the provincial animal disease control institutions.
As pointed out by the specifications, the epidemic spot, infected area and risk area should be established according to the location where the dead or sick animals are found. The infected area covers an area with a radius of three kilometers of the epidemic spot; the risk area stretches out by an area of 50 kilometers starting from the edge of the infected area.
Disinfection should be carried out at the infected premise three to five times a day for one week after which the same work should be done once a day for another15 days.

Accelerating pig production in China’s Pearl River Delta

The Ministry of Agriculture of China (MOA) on November 27 released a guidance on the pig farm presence in the ten cities of the Pearl River Delta Region.
As pointed out by MOA, with the accelerating development of pig production, increasing stocking density of pigs, disproportionate layout of the farms in the region, loose combination of farming and animal husbandry as well as poor comprehensive utilization of waste altogether bring pig farming in conflict with water environment protection.
According to the guidance, the pig production methods and the layout of the farms in the Delta should be optimized to promote standardized farming and the model of combination of farming and animal husbandry. The guidance set forth a goal that by 2020, the large farms with yearly output more than 500 head of pigs should account for more than 70 percent of all pig farms in the Pearl River Delta Region. More than 85 percent of the large-scale pig farms should be equipped with animal waste disposal facilities and more than 75 percent of the pig manure be reused.
The MOA also noted that the quantity of pigs in the Pearl River Delta Region has exceeded the land carrying capacity and the Yangtze River Delta is now left with limited space for swine production while pig farming in the lower reaches of Huaihe River is still at its initial stage.

WENS Group expands operations into Northeast China

Wen's Food Group has announced that its new branch, Northeast Pig Company, was founded in northeast China, the 11th professional pig farming operation affiliated with Wen's Food Group.
In August 2011, the group signed the contract of two projects with the government of Chaoyang City Liaoning: the production project with an output of one million head of pigs and the corn storage and processing project with a capacity of one million tons, marking the beginning of the group’s expansion into the Northeast China. In April 2013, WENS Group signed a Strategic Framework Agreement on the five-million-head pig production project with the government of Jilin Province. After yearsof development, the swine production projects in Southeast China have taken shape, laying the foundation for an efficient pig production model for Wen's.
The Northeast Pig Company which will manage the overall business in the Northeast Region in the future, currently runs eight integrated branch companies.
When commenting on the national presence of Wen's Group, president Wen Zhifen told xinm123.com,"It is now very difficult to find a place for pig farming and it wouldn’t be enough if we just confined ourselves in the south. In recent years, WENS has been expanding business in Northeast and Northwest China and the inland regions such as Shaanxi, Shanxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. Five years ago we set up our base with a design capacity of ten million head of pigs in the Northeast where abundant grain and rich land resources are available. We found our growth engine.”

PIC China’s 2015 symposium highlights value components

The 2015 PIC Symposium, with the theme "Value in the Hands of the Customer,” was acclaimed a great success by the audience of more than 250 representatives from China's top pig producers and pork integrations. The event was held October 11 in Nanjing, China.
Senior speakers from both PIC and the Chinese pig industry shared their latest information:

• Jerry Thompson, Genus APAC COO: PIC – Never stop improving
• He Qiaoguan, executive vice president of Shennong: Introduction to Shennong’s integrated business and how it has achieved 30 PSY
• Liu Congmin, technical service manager, PIC China: Biosecurity and health assurance review;
• Dan Tucker, global health assurance advisor of PIC and professor of veterinary medicine at Cambridge University: Economic impact of respiratory disease
• Liang Zhigang, health assurance manager, PIC China: Maximizing high-value boars’ impact;
• PJ Corns, PIC global supply chain: Key production economic drivers
• David Casey, PIC China key account director and global genetic services manager: What is the value of a high indexing boar
• Pan Chenjun, senior industry analyst of Rabobank: Growth opportunities of China swine industry in a challenging environment

A tradition now, the PIC Symposium is built every year as a communication platform for Chinese pork industry players on production practice sharing and genetic updates.
Commenting on the event, Catalin Lapuste, PIC China operations director, said: “We always try to bring the most practical presentations to the stage and share information which our partners can use to support and develop their business. At PIC, it is all about our customers. That is why we invite them to speak and share their experience every year. We had in the room partners which just joined the PIC family but also long-term ones. ... What brings us together is the element of trust, passion for this industry and drive for top performances.”

Chinese pork production down 3.6 percent in 2015

According to data released October 19 by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC), Chinese pork production during the last three quarters amounted to 38.28 million metric tons, decreasing 3.6 percent year-on-year.
The statistics indicated that pork production declined despite the increasing weight of hogs and the individual carcass weight due to the decreasing number of hogs in stock, the declining slaughter rate and the higher prices that restrained domestic demand.
According to the NBSC, in September, the total number of hogs slaughtered at the large-scale designated slaughterhouses registered an increase of 13.53 percent at 17.03 million head, compared with the number in August. Such change suggested that because of the ending of low stock levels of pigs and plunging prices the number of pigs slaughtered rose as the excess stocks were dumped on the market in some regions across China.
When compared to 2014, the slaughter number of pigs decreased. Along with the rising Chinese pork prices, the rising number of supplement and in-stock pigs, the prices were thus adjusted. Since December, 2013, the pork prices has witnessed a continual decline. Up to May, 2014, the loss of each head of pig was as high as CNY400 (US$62.96). In 2015, pork prices have increased since March and the supplement conditions improved from a year ago, thus the eased falls of the slaughter number in September.

First Swine Expo in Xiamen was a success

The three-day Swine Expo in Xiamen, China, concluded successfully on September 21, 2015. This very first Swine Expo, boasting an exhibition area of 13,000 square meters, attracted almost 10,000 visitors and 172 exhibitors, 17 of which had travelled overseas to attend the event.
The highlights of the expo are as follows:
1.  Grand-scale event -- Three vice-ministerial leaders from the Ministry of Agriculture attended the Swine Expo. This was unprecedented in the history of animal husbandry expos. Four academicians and 18 foreign experts delivered lectures recounting the developments in science and technology that have taken place in the pig industry.
2.  Showcasing pork -- During the Swine Expo, 11 top chefs presented 30 Huai Pork dishes, capturing the attention from both inside and outside of the industry.  “Pork Delicacy Tasting” album specially designed by the organizing committee highlighted the artistic merit of pork.  The Swine Expo became a splendid venue for pork delicacy tasting.
3.  Piglets on display-- The “Piglet Pavilion from the Taiwan Strait” offered visitors the opportunity to admire several breeds of the cute piglets.
4.  Seminars – The“Cross-Strait Swine Science and Technology Seminar” attracted an audience of over 200 people.
5.  Awards Ceremony -- After more than a year of competition, 50 prize-winning finalists from all over the country received their trophies for the “Looking for China’s Beautiful Pig Farms” contest.
6.  Commendations -- Market leaders that have an interest in the future direction of the industry attended the Xiamen Expo. The board chairman of Muyuan Foodstuff Co. Ltd., as well as executives of DaChan Greatwall Group look forward to the Swine Expo being held every two years as planned. They expect that such event will provide a needed and specialized exchange platform for the industry. Ms. Anneke, general manager for Asia of the most eminent professional exhibitors VIV Group, seeks an opportunity for further cooperation in the future.  Guozhong Lin, general manager of Taiwan Guoshou Livestock Farm, was so happy to see his black breeding pig auctioned at CNY24,000 (US$3,772) at the expo.

China’s pig prices show recovery and compensatory rise

On August 5, the Information office of Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China (MOA) released the analysis report on the rising pig prices. The panel of early-warning experts of MOA said, although the pig prices had risen for 18 consecutive weeks, the climb was only a recovery and compensatory rise. Later, the slaughter rate of fattened hogs will stay stable, and the supply will be assured.
After the Spring Festival of 2015, pig prices rose continuously, and pig production gained profit since June. According to MOA, in the last week of July, the pork price increased for 18^th consecutive week to US$4.31/kg, up 20.7 percent year on year. With the rise of pork prices, the parity between pigs and grain increased to 6:1 in the third week of June, ending the losses that had lasted nearly one year and a half.
The experts also explained the reason why the pig prices rose so fast, it was the result of capacity reduction of pig production. According to the monitoring of MOA, in the 4,000 villages that raise pigs, there was a total 7.16 million head of hogs in June, down 10.3 percent year on year. The number of hogs on hand has declined for 9 consecutive months, and the number of adult sows on hand has declined for 22 months, both hitting the rock bottom since 2008.

Muyuan Foods to expand with new pig farm, feed facility

China’s Muyuan Foods has signed a cooperation agreement with Tongxu County, Kaifeng City, Henan, to construct a pig farm that will produce 550,000 thousand head of pigs annually, and a feed facility which can produce 360 thousand metric tons of feed every year. The program involved US$96.66 million total investment.
In 2014, Muyuan sold 1.85 million pigs, and the launching of this program will increase nearly one third of its productivity. Muyuan also said that with the enhancement of management and scale, the company will establish its integrated industry chain including feed production, pig breeding, and commercial pig production.
Muyuan noted that, in the second quarter pig prices increased continually; the company is also positive with the Chinese economy and the long-term development of pig industry. The performance forecast of Muyuan also showed that the company would make a profit instead of suffering a loss from January to June, 2015, with the net profit estimated at US$4.83 million to US$10 million.
Chinese pig prices have been hiking in the past few months. As the biggest intensive pig farming company in Asia which was set up in 1992, the share price of Muyuan Foods jumped from US$5.15 on July 9 to US$11.57 on July 23, with a cumulative gain of 124.53 percent.

Traceability of Shanghai pig offal to be enforced

Shanghai's Food and Drug Administration's Rural Committee, Commerce Administration, and the Municipal Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau have announced that pig offal products will soon be subjected to new traceability rules.
The government agencies in China, at the same time it announced the enforcement of pig offal tracking, released the document “Improving Safety and Quality Standards for Pig Offal Management,” which is expected to set local guidelines for the industry, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics.
With the announcement, slaughter houses will hold the most responsibility for offal product safety and quality. Offal products with packaging that is unfit will be destroyed. Due to the presence of illegal vendors selling pig liver, kidney, and lungs, widespread inspections are being implemented to make sure all sold goods are properly certified. Additionally, packages that pass inspections will be labeled in a way that consumers can easily see the processor and producer. The rules also state that packaging must be nationally certified as food-grade and cannot be reused.

Tangrenshen to acquire Longhua Animal Husbandry

China’s Tangrenshen Group Co. Ltd has plans to acquire a majority stake in Longhua Animal Husbandry by purchasing 90 percent of its shares. Tangrenshen is using capital from 22.45 million newly issued shares at CNY11.07 (US$1.81) per share and CNY43.87 million (US$7.16 million) in cash reserves to purchase Longhua’s CNY292.5 million in shares, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics.
Funds raised by Tangrenshen will be used to purchase a majority share in Longhua Animal Husbandry and to construct a 10,000-head pig project, a smart hog farm promotion project and a smart hog farm service project. The remaining funds will be used to cover operational expenses.
The proposed Longhua Animal Husbandry acquisition will provide a growth opportunity for Tangrenshen Group, which already has a strong presence in China. According to the WATT Global Media Top Companies Database, Tangrenshen has more than 40 subsidiaries throughout China involved in feed, farming and meat processing, including the famous Camel brand of feed. In late 2012, the company announced a plan to acquire Hemei Group in order to strengthen its presence in Shandong. 
Longhua already has three hog farms. In 2014 the company produced 90,000 hogs, and it has a total annual capacity of 120,000 hogs.

Jiangsu Guo Ming, partners to create China pig farm

Alltech, a global animal health leader, signed a memorandum of understanding with Jiangsu Guo Ming Agricultural Development Company, confirming the companies’ commitment to work together to open a new pig farm in Shuyang, Jiangsu Province, China. The memorandum was signed at the China Animal Husbandry Expo in Chongqing.
Five companies have come together to support Jiangsu Guo Ming in the development of the farm in their respective areas of expertise. Alltech will provide animal nutrition solutions, Big Dutchman and Betco will work together on the equipment, facility and house design, PIC will provide genetics and Pipestone will offer management support.
The farm, which will take about two years to complete, will rely on the expertise of industry leaders to develop a farm that will serve as a model to farmers and processors on how using the latest technologies, including nutrigenomics, can maximize productivity. The farm will house 5,000 sows and in a second phase expand to include grower-finisher barns. The end goal is to produce antibiotic free, natural pork products in a highly efficient manner with far less environmental impact than today’s farming practices.
“The pig industry in China is transforming from scattered small farms to large-scale farming, and there are lots of opportunities for growth. This new farm will need comprehensive technology, thus we are partnering with industry leaders to maximize productivity,” said Guoming Pan, president of Jiangsu Guo Ming.
Jiangsu Guo Ming aims to create a farm that is environmentally sustainable with high standards for animal welfare. In addition to ensuring traceability from seed to feed, a key objective is to produce a model for manure management that can be replicated on farms in China. 
“Alltech is guided by our ACE principle, which stands for the benefit and safety to the Animal, Consumer and Environment, and the base of our products has always been natural. We are proud to work with Jiangsu Guo Ming and other industry leaders to develop a farm that follows this principle and uses the latest technologies to maximize productivity,” said Dr. Mark Lyons, Alltech vice president and director of China business operations. “I am confident that Alltech’s contribution, backed by 35 years of experience, will be significant in helping pigs achieve their genetic potential through nutrition.”
The agreement was signed by representatives from six companies: Guoming Pan, president of Jiangsu Guoming; Fred Barnard, COO of Betco Asia; Nigel Goode, president of Pig Business Unit, Big Dutchman; Martin Butler, China director, Pipestone; Sean Teng, key account director, PIC China and Michael Woolsey, senior regulatory strategic manager, Alltech China.

TrueIn Group building pork facility in Inner Mongolia

China's TrueIn Group plans to build an industrialized pork production base in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia. The complex is expected to have an annual production capacity of 3 million head.
TrueIn Group announced its intent to construct the facility on May 8.
In addition to building facilities to raise the pigs, the company will also construct a feed production plant, slaughtering facilities, a meat processing plant, an organic fertilizer plant, and a 15,000 mu (2,471 acre) plantation to grow willow trees and other crops, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics. 
TrueIn Group, according to its announcement, will create a subsidiary called TrueIn Group (Inner Mongolia) Co., Ltd., with CNY2 million (US$330,000) in registered capital which will be responsible for the new project. Total investment for the project will amount to RMB 4.311 billion (US$710 million) and will be funded by TrueIn and its partners.
The project is expected to be completed within a 5-year time frame, and once it is operational, it is expected to bring in an annual income of CNY5.102 billion and an annual profit of CNY699 million. Taxes generated by the project will reach CNY656 million annually. The period for return on investment is projected at about 3.5 years.

Hunan Xinguang’an Agricultural Husbandry to launch IPO

China’s Hunan Xinguang’an Agricultural Husbandry Co. Ltd. will launch an initial public offering (IPO), the China Securities Regulatory Commission recently disclosed.
The Chinese company focuses on improving pig breed quality and feeding efficiency. It currently operates with a fully integrated pig farming industrial chain.
The IPO is expected to be for no more than 26.67 million shares, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics. The total stock issue is not to exceed 107 million shares.

Riverstone Farms’ China hog facility construction starts

Work began on March 17 on the construction of Riverstone Farms’ new 120,000 head hog farm in the Zhanhua district of China’s Shandong province. The project began when Riverstone Farms was registered as Shandong-based company in October 2013 as a joint holdings company of Black River Capital Partners Food Fund Holdings and Pipestone System, one of the largest pork producers in the United States. 
The total investment for the Riverstone Farms project is estimated to be around CNY500 million (US$81.4 million) and will extend across 5,000 mu (824 acres) of land, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics. Four feedlots will be constructed as well as a digester to remediate dead livestock on about 400 mu. The remaining 4,600 mu of land will be used to grow corn, wheat, alfalfa, and grass. When complete, each feedlot will house around 9,600 pigs, and total annual output will be around 120,000 head, for an estimated CNY1 billion in revenue.
In 2014, Riverstone constructed a breeding base in nearby Wudi County in China, home to 6,000 breeding sows.

China pig production down in 2014, slaughter up

The number of pigs produced in China was down in 2014, while the number of pigs slaughtered was up when compared to 2013. During the year, the country raised 465.83 million pigs and slaughtered 735.1 million pigs, for a 1.7 percent decrease and 2.7 percent increase from 2013, respectively. Pork production, at 56.71 million metric tons, increased by 3.2 percent for the year.
The Chinese pig industry suffered slightly because of an economic slowdown during the year. The number of pigs slaughtered increased largely due to overcapacity, resulting from the government’s support of the industry.


Improvements in infrastructure, pig production efficiency, safety needed
As China’s pig production transitions from traditional methods to more modern production methods, a few issues need to be addressed, according to a report provided by Smart Agriculture Analytics. Those issues include:


• Infrastructure: The current mode of pig production is burdened by weak infrastructure. Individual farmers slaughtering fewer than 50 pigs per year still account for roughly 30 percent of the industry. For larger farms, facilities and equipment are often poorly maintained, and organized management is lacking.
• Efficiency: Production efficiency is lower and costs are higher than on pig farms in developed nations, especially in terms of sow feeding rate and the number of pigs managed per employee.
• Safety: Since the level of standardized production in China is still low, safety issues remain an inevitable concern, according to the report.

France’s Nucleus flies 1,000 pigs to China

Now that the Chinese government has given clearance for companies from France to import pigs into the country, French genetics company Nucleus delivered 1,000 pigs from Chalons Vatry Airport in Paris into Najing Lukou International Airport via a Boeing 747 airplane.
The pigs, which were purchased by TrueIn Group, range from 3 to 8 months old and are valued around CNY9.794 million (US$1.59 million), according to a report from Xinhua.
The sows are Large White and Landrance varieties, and the boars are mostly Pietrains. Each sow, on average, produces 28.7 piglets a year, and the boars' feed conversion ratio is around 2.6 -- both numbers reflect the quality of pigs.
Upon arrival, the pigs were immediately rounded up in an isolation and quarantine center for the first round of inspections. Zhou Quan, the airport's customs office chief, explained that the live animal inspection process takes current weather conditions, biological needs, and travel time into consideration when conducting these inspections. The duty-free pig shipment also saved CYN1.448 million in taxes.
China officially opened its market to French pigs and pig products on March 1, following a meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and French President Francois Hollande. The opening of trade was observed at the 52^nd Paris Agricultural Fair, also known as Salon de l’agriculture.

2 WH Group subsidiaries allowed to export pork into Russia

Two subsidiaries of Chinese pig producer and pork processor WH Group have been given clearance to export pork to Russia. Russia’s decision to open trade with China puts an end a ten-year ban on Chinese pork.
According to a China Topix report, Russia’s federal service for veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance has officially approved shipments of frozen pork from WH Group’s Shuanhui Beidahuang Food Co. and Heilonjiang Baoquanling Shuanghui Food Industry Co. to come into Russia.
“Our two companies are stepping up manufacturing of frozen port products to satisfy demand from Russian importers,” said WH Group spokesperson Liu Jintao.
An agreement was reached in August between Russian and Chinese officials that would allow five Chinese companies – including the two WH Group subsidiaries -- to export meat products into Russia.
Russia had been looking at markets to ship pork and other meat products into the country after it on August 6 imposed a ban on agricultural and food products from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway. Included in that ban are products from another WH Group subsidiary, Smithfield Foods. WH Group in September 2013 acquired the U.S.-based Smithfield Foods, which at the time was the world’s largest pig producer and pork processor.

Chinese government introduces pork purchase plan

The Chinese government has introduced a pork purchase plan to stabilize depressed prices while production of live pigs remains high. The Chinese pork plan will prevent excessive decline in prices of live hogs, stabilize husbandry and protect farmers involved in Chinese pig production, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning body, stated.
The NDRC forecast that prices will continue to drop in upcoming months, a time when consumption is traditionally low. NDRC also advised farmers to adjust the scale of their business depending on market prices.
Prices of live hogs have fallen since mid-December. Wholesale prices fell 1.1 percent in the first two weeks of February year on year after a 1.9 percent drop in January, according to reports.

Nucleus successfully exports 684 animals to Chinese companies

Nucleus celebrates the export of 684 pigs to China.
Nucleus successfully exported 684 animals to Chinese companies Shanghai Qinnong and Beijing Jiuding. Animals arrived in good health on October 12 in Shanghai. The Nucleus genetic is approved by Chinese market for its qualities of productivity and feed efficiency.
"Thanks to this new export, we aspire to take major market share on imported animals in China in 2013" said Jacques Gourmelon, managing director of Nucleus. "This success is result of fierce work of our teams and GGP farmers for improvement and promotion of our genetic potential. At the time when all pig producers from all around the world are requiring profitability driver, Nucleus genetic assumed its leading and locomotive position when being one of the best genetic in France and in the world".
Nucleus is the French leader in pig breeding. Nucleus owns 4 000 GGP sows and 15 000 GP sows and markets more than 150 000 gilts per year in France. Nucleus' aim is to provide the best genetic in order to meet requirement of all actors of pig chain: pig producers, feed mill, slaughterhouses, meat processors, consumers.