Pork prices continued to decline this week, with institutions forecasting that there will be support for pork prices this year.

According to the monitoring of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on May 16, the average price of pork in the national agricultural products wholesale market was 20.94 yuan/kg, which increased by 1.6% compared to 20.62 yuan/kg last Friday. The average price this week is 20.88 yuan/kg, remaining unchanged from last week's average. The domestic pig prices this week mainly decreased, with a week-on-week decline in average price. According to data from China Pig Farming Network, on May 16, the price of live pigs was 14.74 yuan/kg, a decrease of 0.8% compared to 14.86 yuan/kg last Friday. Looking at the average price for the week, the average price of live pigs this week was 14.81 yuan/kg, a decrease of 0.4% compared to last week's 14.87 yuan/kg. Open Source Securities believes that the off-season for pork prices in April is not weak, and the supply gap transmission of May will be accompanied by improving demand margins, leading to further increase in the central price of pork. Looking ahead, the supply side will see the previous period's gap from the elimination of sows and the transmission of the losses from piglets from the winter and spring diarrhea virus mutations, resulting in limited increase in the number of pigs slaughtered in May, while demand for pork consumption is improving. With internal and external factors driving together, the central price of pork in May is expected to continue to rise, providing support for the central price of pork in 2025.