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With news of the bird flu outbreak spreading to several parts of China, the domestic market for poultry products in China has been severely hit and consumers' confidence in purchasing poultry products is at its lowest ebb. This is especially the case in bird-flu-affected regions, where consumers have generally avoided the consumption of poultry products.

According to a recent market survey, retailers of poultry products in China generally lamented that, "Business is bad as people are shying away."

Meanwhile, consumers remarked that, " Even though the authorities has reassured that it is safe to eat them cooked, it is better for us to avoid or reduce our consumption of poultry products."

It is evident that the majority of the public has been avoiding eating poultry meat and its related products. Consequently, the market demand for pork, beef and mutton has been spurred on the back of drastic falls in the consumption of poultry products.

In recent weeks, prices of pork in China have risen gradually in the markets of Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong, Beijing and etc. This is undoubtedly good news for the hog production industry in China.

As prices of hog move up slowly, it might be a wise move, for those in China's hog industry production, to increase their hog inventories and take this opportunity to expand production scale by prudent strategic planning.

At the same time, government authorities have asked animal production units to learn from this experience of the bird flu outbreak to take appropriate measures to prevent future occurrence. Hog producers are advised to adopt an alternative perspective to take advantage of the current rise in demand for pork and adhere to high stringent standards for food safety.

Source: eFeedLink - 6th February 2004