China pig herd in May down 23% on year: ministry

The size of the live pig herd and number of fertile sows in China fell further in May amid the ongoing African swine fever (ASF) epidemics, data from the Chinese government showed on Wednesday.

The number of live pigs was down more than 4% compared with April, marking a nearly 23% decline compared with May 2018, according to the latest data published by the Chinese ministry of agriculture and rural affairs.

The number of fertile sows in May also fell over 4% month-on-month, nearly 24% lower than the equivalent month last year.

Since the start of May this year, China has reported eight more outbreaks of ASF across five provinces in western China, taking the total number of outbreaks to 130 since August last year.