China’s top pig farmers mired in boom-bust cycle

BEIJING: Once every three to four years, hog farmers in the world’s largest producing country find themselves trapped in an unforgiving market that pushes some over-leveraged breeders to the brink of a debt crisis.

Jiangxi Zhengbang Technology Co, the second-largest hog supplier among Chinese listed companies in 2020, just reported 542 million yuan (US$81mil or RM356mil) of overdue commercial bills, becoming the latest producer to show the financial stress of the boom-bust cycle. The nonpayment comes after it lost about three billion dollars since the start of last year amid a halving in hog prices.