A DECLINE in Chinese pork consumption is keeping a lid on prices, an executive at China’s top pig producer Wens Foodstuff Group said Friday, even as pork output slumps in the country, the world’s biggest producer of the meat.

The fall in consumption comes as an epidemic of African swine fever has ravaged China’s pig herd, the world’s largest, curbing demand for the country’s favorite meat.

African swine fever kills almost all pigs infected but does not harm people. However, news of the disease was having “a psychological effect,” leading consumers to reduce pork consumption over the short term, Luo Xufang, president of Wens’ pig industry division, said on the sidelines of an industry event.

China slaughters almost 700 million pigs a year and pork is by far the most widely eaten meat.

Wens is the country’s largest pig farmer and also biggest producer of poultry.

Luo did not provide details of the consumption decline but pork prices have risen little since the start of April, despite an increasing decline in hog production.

China’s sow herd in April fell 22.3 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs showed last week.

The industry is expecting prices to rise in the second half, with production still falling.

“With the disease still present, it will keep falling,” said Qin Yinglin, president of Muyuan Foods, China’s second-largest pig farmer.

Vice premier Hu Chunhua said Thursday that pig farmers must be encouraged to restock farms as worries grow over the impact of rising pork prices on the economy.

Chen Guanghua, an official with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said the government needed to issue further measures to support a recovery in production.(SD-Agencies)