China’s state planner has increased its coordination with large-scale pig breeders to ensure stable hog supply, the authority said on Thursday, as it tries to cool soaring prices in the world’s biggest pork market.
China’s hog futures rose as much as 6% on Monday, after a surge in demand during the week-long National Day holiday, amid tight supply, pushed up spot prices.
Meat and dairy production in the European Union is expected to decline this year and next as livestock farms feel the effects of drought, disease outbreaks and rising costs.
The biggest U.S. meat company by sales said on Wednesday it will relocate all corporate employees from offices in Chicago and Downers Grove, Ill. and Dakota Dunes, S.D., to its headquarters in Springdale, Ark.
Starting in October, France will ban the use of meat names like “steak” and “sausage” on plant-based protein food in an effort to avoid confusion over the trendy meat alternatives.
Smithfield Foods Inc has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the meat producer and competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the $20 billion-a-year U.S. market by limiting supply.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing regulations to prevent meat companies from retaliating against livestock and poultry farmers who speak out on practices such as price-fixing.
Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a proposal to ban “factory farming” in a referendum on whether the wealthy country’s strict animal welfare laws need to be tightened yet further.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden has said that he will not immediately act to remove the Phase 1 trade agreement, which President Donald Trump inked with China, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.
