Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ17: Price of pork
Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the
Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Gabriel Leung, in the
Legislative Council today (April 28):
Question:
It has been reported that the wholesale price for live pigs on the Mainland has
been dropping continuously and has recently reached its lowest since May of last
year. The said price and the price for pork on the Mainland have dropped
continuously for twelve and eleven weeks, which are respectively 12.6% and 9.8%
lower when compared with the prices of the same period last year. The National
Development and Reform Commission further anticipates that the price for pork on
the Mainland will drop continuously until after the Mid-Autumn Festival in
September this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council:
(a) of the average monthly wholesale, import and retail prices for fresh and
chilled pork imported from the Mainland since January 2009, and the changes in
these prices; of the difference in the retail prices for fresh and chilled pork;
and
(b) whether there has been a corresponding drop in the wholesale, import and
retail prices for fresh and chilled pork imported from the Mainland as a result
of the continuous drop in price for pigs on the Mainland since January 2009; if
not, whether the authorities have looked into the reasons involved, and
proactively investigated why the drop in the price for pigs on the Mainland has
not been reflected in the local wholesale, import and retail prices for pork;
whether they have uncovered situations of market practitioners boosting up
prices; and what measures the authorities have taken to urge retailers, etc. to
lower the price for pork expeditiously, and to prevent market practitioners from
profiteering through price-boosting, so as to enable the public to buy pork at a
reasonable price that reflects the cost?
Reply:
President,
(a) The wholesale price of live pigs (that is, the price of live pigs paid by
live pig buyers to live pig import agents) and the retail price of fresh pork
from January 2009 to the present are shown in Annex 1. However, it has to be
noted that wholesale price of live pigs is not equal to wholesale price of fresh
lean pork. The weight of a live pig includes not only the weight of the pork,
but also the weight of the head, bones, skin and offal.
The Government does not compile statistics on the wholesale price of chilled
pork. We can hence only work out the import price of chilled pork based on the
information on the import quantities and value of chilled pork declared for
customs purpose.
The import and retail prices of chilled pork from January 2009 to the present
are shown in Annex 2.
Difference in the retail prices of fresh and chilled pork is shown in Annex 3.
(b) As shown by the price information, the price of pork has been adjusted
downward to a certain extent since January 2009. The average wholesale prices of
live pigs and retail prices of fresh lean pork have gone down considerably when
compared with that in January 2009. Both prices also registered similar extent
of adjustment in recent months. According to the figures in March this year, the
average wholesale price of live pigs was $10.1/catty, a drop of some 9% when
compared with the wholesale price of $11.1/catty in January 2009; whereas the
retail price was $33.1/catty, a drop of some 8% when compared with the retail
price of $36.1/catty in January 2009.
The retail price of chilled pork showed a higher degree of adjustment. The
retail price was $22.1/catty in March this year, a drop of some 15% when
compared with the retail price of $26/catty in January 2009.
The difference in the retail prices of fresh and chilled pork has remained
stable since January 2009.
We have approached the trade (including live pig import agents, buyers and pork
retailers) to find out more about the composition of the pork price. The trade
explained that in addition to the purchase price, other operational costs such
as transport cost, workers wages and rental have to be considered in fixing the
price of pork.
Supply of live pigs for public consumption mainly comes from the Mainland (the
rest is supplied by local farms). To maintain a stable supply, the Food and
Health Bureau (FHB) has all along liaised closely with the relevant Mainland
authorities and live pig import agents. In July 2007, the FHB and the State
Ministry of Commerce agreed after discussion that market for supplying live pig
to Hong Kong should be opened up for healthy competition. Subsequently, the
number of agents for supplying Mainland live pigs to Hong Kong increased from
one to three in October 2007.
To maintain a stable supply of food and provide consumers more choices, the
Government also encourages the trade to explore different sources of food
supply. In August 2006, the trade started importing chilled pork from the
Mainland to give the public an additional choice. The consumption of chilled
pork increased from around 4,600 tonnes in 2006 to around 16,700 tonnes in 2009.
The policy objective of the Government is to maintain a stable supply of various
foodstuffs and ensure food safety. Food price has always been determined by the
free market. It is the Government's responsibility to improve market
transparency and enhance market efficiency so as to help consumers make a wise
choice.
We have introduced measures to improve the flow of market information. Starting
from mid-January 2008, we have made public on a daily basis the quantity and
auction price of live pigs arriving at the slaughterhouse on the day and the
estimated number of live pigs to arrive at the slaughterhouse on the following
day. This enables the live pig buyers, retailers and the public to have a clear
picture about the supply of live pigs.
As for retail prices, the Consumer Council now releases information on prices of
various fresh food items at wet markets (amongst which include the retail prices
of fresh pork) on a daily basis for public reference with a view to enhancing
transparency in food prices.
Ends/Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:18
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Annexes