Fresh Pork Back In Markets, But Prices Jump

Markets in Hong Kong started selling fresh pork again on Monday, but customers said the prices had gone up by almost 40 to 50 percent.

The supply of fresh meat was cut off for around a week, after the city's two slaughterhouses were shut after African swine fever was found in a pig imported from the mainland. One of the abattoirs started slaughtering again from Sunday after it was disinfected.

But government officials said there were only about 2,900 pigs available on Monday morning, about 60 percent of the normal supply.

Meat sellers at Lok Fu wet market said wholesale costs had risen by 20 percent, and they claimed they would not increase their prices too heavily. They also said they had noticed little change in demand.

“It’s expensive. We increased the selling price only by a little, say like HK$80 increased to HK$88. We could not raise [prices] too much because our customers are mainly local residents,” said one seller.

But some customers felt that the pork on offer was too pricey.

“I spent HK$59. It’s a lot more expensive today – HK$12 more per catty. I wouldn’t worry too much about the safety, because [the slaughterhouse] has been disinfected thoroughly. I haven’t had pork for so long,” said one customer.

Another customer agreed. "The pork should be okay if they have passed inspections", she said.