China has released meat from reserves to help
areas suffering from disastrous flooding, a senior commerce official said, but
Beijing would set a high bar before beginning broader sales to quell high pork
prices.
"Some parts of the country have suffered from serious floods, and pork
supplies were tight, so after the Commerce Ministry discussed with other
relevant government departments, we decided to use the meat reserve," Fang
Aiqing, the head of market operation department, told a news conference on
Wednesday.
But the ministry would be cautious before releasing meat for the purpose of
easing pork prices, which peaked in May and again in early July, Fang said in
remarks carried on the central government Web site on Thursday.
Widespread disease, higher feed costs and farmers' reluctance to raise pigs
after poor profits last year have pushed pork prices in China to multi-year
highs, driving inflation to the upper end of the government's target range.
The ministry would consider the income of pig farmers, and the purchasing
ability of common people before intervening in the market. Government officials
had earlier said the meat reserve stood ready to be used to ease prices.
Pig deaths from blue ear disease spiked in June,
exceeding the total deaths in the previous five months of 2007, but have fallen
so far in July, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
