China Deflation Alarms Raised by Falling Prices for Food and Cars

Consumer prices fell last month in China by the most since the global financial crisis in 2009, the latest sign that weak spending and a glut of output from factories and farms are forcing businesses to offer discounts. The decline in consumer prices was mostly confined to food and electric cars. But wholesale prices charged by factories and other producers also fell last month, and have been down from their levels a year earlier in every month since October 2022. A broad decline in the overall level of prices, a…

China’s Bid to Improve Food Production? Giant Towers of Pigs.

The first sows arrived in late September at the hulking, 26-story high-rise towering above a rural village in central China. The female pigs were whisked away dozens at a time in industrial elevators to the higher floors where the hogs would reside from insemination to maturity. This is pig farming in China, where agricultural land is scarce, food production is lagging and pork supply is a strategic imperative. Inside the hulking edifice, which resembles the monolithic housing blocks seen across China and stands as tall as the London tower that…

Chinese pork prices surge to new high prompting authorities to act

The price of Chinese pork surged to a new high in August, prompting authorities to take the year’s first dip into national meat reserves to ensure supply for the holidays. Pork costs in China rose an average of 22.5% last month, compared with last year. It followed the highest recorded month-on-month increase of 25.6% in July, as CPI also hit a two-year high of 2.7%. August’s rise occurred despite an unexpected slowdown of CPI inflation to 2.5%. China is the world’s biggest consumer of pork, and the country’s government maintains…