WORLD OF PIGS ▶▶▶


Wanted: Millions of sows for China


The reconstruction of China’s pig industry, which was ruined by African Swine Fever (ASF), will be much faster in 2021 than it was last year. International breeding organisations are gearing up to be able to get their share, as the Chinese market is virtually insatiable.


BY KEES VAN DOOREN, SENIOR REPORTER, BOERDERIJ E


ven breeding organisations only have 24 hours in a day, yet they wish they had more. In an attempt to re- stock China with sufficient numbers of breeding ani- mals, it’s easy to get the impression that the Asian


giant is all that matters. Take, for instance, French genetics company Choice. In France and the United States the company has adjusted its breed- ing programme to be able to accommodate the Chinese market. What’s more, in France capacity has been expanded to produce additional breeding material, primarily for Chi- na, says Jim Schirmer, the company’s director for business development Asia. They are not the exceptions, as these days every breeding company is keen to increase its stakes share in China, a coun- try with a virtually insatiable market. Before ASF entered the country in 2018, China had roughly 45 million sows. It is esti- mated that half of them disappeared, either directly due to the virus or indirectly through culling. What is clear is that


Table 1 – Number of exported breeding pigs to China in 2020 and 2021*


Breeding organisation 2020 2021* Axiom PIC


5,000 2,000


Choice Genetics


DanBred Nucléus


Hendrix Genetics * Projected


6 1,400


2,200 6,300


9,000 >4,000 >14,000 Unknown Unknown Unknown


Breeding capacity in China None


Cooperation with Chinese company BCA; also local joint-ventures


Pure line breeding by selected customers; over 100,000 animals/year Unknown


10,000 (aim) Between 5,000-6,000 GGP pigs/year 1,200 sow nucleus in joint venture with New Hope


China will need whopping numbers of production sows in the next few years.


Pork production in China on the rise Pork production in China is on the rise as we speak. Ernst van Orsouw, global director of strategy and marketing at Genus/ PIC, estimates that more than half the sows in China these days have been “promoted” from the finisher barns. In other words, these sows are not F1 animals, but finisher pigs that are not as productive or proliferative. In due course, these sows will have to make way for F1 sows, while regular re- placement of sows continues. Hendrix Genetics reports that it aims to increase its position in China. Over the last few years, a start has been made to ex- pand the number of breeding animals. That was only a rela- tively small step. More investments will follow, directly aimed at the Chinese market, but at this stage the company cannot comment any further. In addition, French company Axiom is investing strongly in the Chinese market, says export sales representative Sigrid Willems. The company is also selling genetics to Chinese cus- tomers so they can start building their own in-farm breeding programmes. In China, Axiom will supervise these pro- grammes. Axiom also has a local foot on the ground, so semen can be easily exported to China.


Numbers of breeding pigs transported The export targets confirm this trend of breeding companies strengthening their position in the Chinese market (see Table 1). In total, across all breeding companies, in 2020 alone al- most 28,000 great-grandparent (GGP) pigs were shipped to China, according to French breeding company Nucléus. Most of these were sent from France and Denmark. With 28,000 exported GGP animals per year, there is a solid basis to help China achieve sufficient levels of production sows. If 2020 numbers are achieved three years in a row, and taking into account some annual growth as well, by late 2022 there could be roughly 100,000 GGP animals shipped to Chi- na. With that number of GGP animals it is theoretically possi- ble to produce 20 million F1 sows in the longer term. Not every breeding company has been sharing information about their intentions or plans for 2021. Nucléus says in 2020 the company was responsible for almost 25% of the 28,000


▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 2, 2021


PHOTO: ANP


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