Muyuan, China’s largest hog breeder, announced that it had sold 13.9 million hogs in the third quarter, up 60.9% year on year.
In the first 9 months of the year the company saw its revenue rise 43.5% to 80.7 billion yuan and it now has a profit of 1.5 billion yuan year to date. Profits in the third quarter were 8.2 billion yuan and recovered the losses from the first two quarters.
On the breeding side, the company said it no longer relies on any imported breeding stock and is self-sufficient in that regard. It further said that the annual number of piglets per sow has reached 26 with a survival rate of 85% in August and September.
The company said that it is still working to lower protein and soybean meal use in its feed diets and estimates its soybean meal use is less than half the industry average. The reduction of soybean meal is feed rations has been pushed by the government in recent years as a way to reduce dependence on imported soybeans.
In its announcements the company also stressed many of the major political talking points.
The company said it was actively working on rural revitalization and poverty reduction, key policy goals of President Xi.
The company emphasized that it was working to be a role model for the industry and “made positive contribution to ensuring supply and stabilize prices”, another government priority amid the recent sharp rise in prices.
The company said it would stop selling hogs to farms engaged in secondary fattening, a process where farmers feed pigs to extremely high weights in order to hold back supplies and take advantage of higher prices. This practice has been criticized by the National Development and Reform Commission of pushing prices higher in recent weeks.