Pork prices have fallen to levels not seen in eight years. What are the reasons? How long will this trend last?

【Caixin Net】 After the Spring Festival each year, pork prices typically show a seasonal decline, and 2026 has followed this trend as well, though the absolute level is clearly lower than in previous years.

据 the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on March 31, 2026, the average pork price in the national agricultural product wholesale markets was 15.31 yuan per kilogram, down 1.0% from the previous day. In the week before (March 20 to March 26), pork prices fell 1.9% month on month, and the year-on-year decline reached 23.4%. Caixin’s review of historical data found that since data became available in June 2013, only in May 2018 did pork prices go below 16 yuan per kilogram.

Monitoring by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau of 500 county-level wholesale markets and collection points across the country also showed that in the 4th week of March, in the 30 monitored provinces nationwide, both hog and pork prices fell, with year-on-year declines of 29.8% and 17.8%, respectively.