Wholesale prices of pork surge 40%

Wholesale prices of pork have surged 40 percent in the last 10 days due to rising demand following import bans on U.S. beef and suspension of poultry shipments from some Asian countries, industry officials said Wednesday.

With the outbreak of the first case of mad cow disease in the United States and the bird flu spreading in Asia, restaurant operators are turning to pork for their dishes, resulting in a shortage, the officials said.

If the tight supply continues, retail prices will also rise, they said.

Wholesale prices of pork at the Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market in Tokyo jumped to 619 yen per kg at the end of December due to buying by speculators anticipating a surge in demand following the Dec. 23 discovery of mad cow disease in the U.S., according to market officials.

The prices dropped to normal levels at around 350 yen at the beginning of January and stayed there until mid-January as most of the meat trading for the yearend and New Year's consumption had ended, they said.

Later in the month, however, prices started surging again and hit 488 yen on Wednesday, up about 1.4-fold from 10 days earlier.

Prices of domestic beef have meanwhile been relatively stable, the officials said.

"Usually, the amount of pork trading should decrease by this time of the year, but this year is different," said a pork trader at the metropolitan market. "Pork prices may stay at high levels until the summer as it takes months for pigs to grow big."