Chinanews client, Beijing, September 9th (Reporter Xie Yiguan) If you use one word to summarize the performance of pig breeding companies in the first half of this year, it would be "miserable."

  The total revenue of 13 pig breeding companies in the first half of the year was 202.388 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.77%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 2.208 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 91%.

Data map photo by Zhong Xin

Leading pig companies "take the lead" in losses

  In the past, all pig farming companies have experienced a decline in their net profits. Even the pig-raising “first brother” Muyuan shares has not been spared.

  In the first half of the year, Muyuan’s revenue was 41.538 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 97.49%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 9.526 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.67%.

  The performance decline, the stock price of "Pig in Maotai" fell one after another. As of September 8, the stock price of Muyuan shares closed at 45.93 yuan, a decrease of 64.94% from the high of 131 yuan in February.

  Muyuan shares can still achieve a profit of nearly tens of billions, and New Hope and Wen's shares are "leading" losses.

  In the first half of the year, New Hope’s revenue was 61.519 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 37.64%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was a loss of 3.415 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 20.794 billion yuan, becoming the industry’s “loss king”; Wen’s shares had a revenue of 30.63 billion yuan. Yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 14.81%, and the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was a loss of 2.498 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 160.14%.

  In addition, the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies by Zhengbang Technology, Tianbang shares, and Aonong Biotech all fell by more than 100% year-on-year.

The plunge in pork prices is the main reason that drags down performance

  Regarding the sharp decline in performance, combing through the financial reports of pig breeding companies found that the increase in supply has pushed the price of pork to fall sharply, and the cost of the pig breeding industry has increased significantly as the main reason.

  According to the monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the country’s 500 county fairs and collection points, in the fourth week of June, the national average price of live pigs was 13.76 yuan/kg, a year-on-year decrease of 57.0%.

If calculated from the 36.01 yuan/kg in the third week of January, the cumulative decline has reached 62%.

Data map: Consumers are buying pork in a supermarket in Taiyuan, Shanxi.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Yun

  "Since February, the price of live pigs has fallen for five consecutive months. At the end of June, the retail price of pork in the national bazaar was 24.6 yuan per kilogram, which is more than half of the historical high price of 59.64 yuan in February 2020." Agriculture Xin Guochang, the second-level inspector of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of the Ministry of Rural Affairs, once said at the press conference.

  Looking at the live pig sales briefing of Muyuan shares, it is found that since the first half of 2021 and especially the second quarter, due to the sharp decline in commodity pig prices year-on-year, even if the monthly sales volume increased sharply, its sales revenue did not increase significantly.

  In addition, "Since 2020, affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, changes in purchasing and storage policies, and harvest conditions in staple grain producing areas in various countries, the prices of major feed ingredients such as corn and soybean meal have continued to rise, and the average price of corn in the market will be in early 2021. Approaching the 3,000 yuan/ton mark." New Hope pointed out in the financial report.

  According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to June this year, the average wholesale price of corn in the production areas was 1.39 yuan per catty, an increase of 44% over the average price in the first half of last year, and an increase of 20% over the average price in the second half of last year.

The wealth of pig-raising tycoons has shrunk

  Under the dismal performance in the first half of the year, the net worth of the bigwigs of pig breeding companies has also "shrunk".

  On the 2021 Forbes Global Rich List, the Qin Yinglin family of Muyuan shares ranked 44th with a fortune of 33.5 billion US dollars; the Liu Yonghao family of New Hope ranked 182nd, with assets of 12.1 billion US dollars.

  However, as of September 8, the Forbes real-time rich list shows that the Qin Yinglin family has fallen to 87th, and the Liu Yonghao family has fallen to 338th.

Data map: Breeding pigs imported from overseas in Jilin Province.

Photo courtesy of Changchun Customs

  Will the wealth of the rich pig farmers recover in the second half of the year?

From the perspective of the supply and price of live pigs, it is not optimistic.

  According to the information disclosed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the national stock of reproductive sows and pigs has achieved the recovery target six months ahead of schedule.

The Ministry of Commerce recently released data showing that the average wholesale price of pork fell below 10 yuan per catty again.

A reporter from Chinanews.com recently visited the supermarket and found that pork prices have stabilized at a low level.

In a large supermarket in Fengtai District, Beijing, the price of pork is more than 11 yuan per catty.

  Some institutions predict that the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day double-festival consumption peak and policy "underpinning" will form a certain supporting effect on the price of live pigs.

  However, Chen Zhenzhi, an analyst at Huajin Securities, believes that “because of the high base of pig prices in the third quarter of last year, domestic pig breeding companies’ performance in the third quarter is still under pressure for year-on-year growth.”

  The price of pork has plummeted. Do you want to take this opportunity to eat more pork and buy more pork?

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