(Yicai Global) July 6 -- China will begin replenishing its pork reserves again, after adding 7,100 tons in February, to help get prices back to a reasonable range as quickly as possible as prices continue to tumble, the country’s macro-economic planner said recently.

The National Development and Reform Commission will begin coordinating with related departments to boost central pork reserves and will guide local governments to stockpile more pork, the NDRC said on its WeChat account on July 3.

China’s pork-to-grain price ratio dropped to below five in the last week in June, entering the highest level of the country’s pork price warning system, and triggering the immediate need to replenish pork reserves, the NDRC said.

China is highly concerned about swings in the pork market and will continue to rein in pork production and bolster prices so as to stabilize the market, it added.

There has been a recurrence of swine fever in many places in the south of the country this year, resulting in many hog farmers selling their herds and flooding the market, the NDRC’s Department of Price said. But sluggish demand has also kept prices in check.

China’s consumer price index, which is a gauge of inflation, has stayed low so far this year due to the falling price of pork and other factors. May’s CPI climbed only 0.2 percent from a year earlier and dipped 0.2 percent from the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

June’s CPI, which will be announced on July 10, is likely to remain at 0.2 percent year on year, a fall of 0.1 percent from May, said Li Chao, chief economist at Zheshang Securities.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor