Pork King
World’s richest farmer faces chop to fortune Normalisation of prices after swine flu set to hit wealth of Chinese pig merchant Pork prices soared after swine flu hit Chinese farms last year — Dominique Patton/Reuters
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wine flu made him the richest farmer in the world; coronavirus added a quick $6bn to his personal fortune. Qin Yinglin’s pig farming wealth has grown rapidly in recent months — more than doubling to $22bn since June last year — yet few people in China, the world’s biggest pork market, know his name. His fortune now trumps that of the Louis-Dreyfus family of the eponymous 169-year-old agriculture empire. But the outbreak of swine flu that wiped out half of China’s pigs and sent shares soaring last year in Muyuan Foods, Mr Qin’s Shenzhen-listed company, has started to stabilise in 2020. For Mr Qin, the restocking of China’s pork supply will also mean a decline in his personal wealth. “This is a limited story [for Muyuan] in terms of time,” said Wilhelm Uffelmann, the head of consultancy Roland Berger’s food and agribusiness practice. African swine flu ravaged China’s pig farming industry in 2019 and sent prices to record highs. By October last year, pork prices were about 160 per cent higher than the same period the year before, as up to half of the country’s pigs were culled or killed off by the disease. Many farms suffered but Muyuan sales have thrived and profit in the first three months of 2020 surged 863 per cent to Rmb4.1bn ($574m). Analysts said the company had more selfowned farms than many of its competitors, which contract out pig farming to much smaller companies. By owning
a high percentage of its own farms, Muyuan has been more able to control its hygiene and biosecurity, helping it navigate the swine flu outbreak. “The epidemic will force the weaker companies and farmers to completely withdraw [from the industry] but it will be an opportunity for profit and development for the stronger enterprises,” the 55-year-old Mr Qin told Chinese media this year. The businessman would not comment for this story. From humble beginnings, Mr Qin and his wife Qian Ying have become self-made multibillionaires. The pair graduated with animal husbandry degrees in the late-1980s according to official biographies. They started their first pig farm from scratch in 1992 with 22 piglets, most of which were wiped out in an outbreak of swine disease. His farms in 2019 raised more than 10m pigs. International Financial Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, invested Rmb65m in 2010 and also provided the group with a Rmb200m loan. IFC bought 12m shares at Rmb5.42. Muyuan’s stock price hit Rmb133 in late April. During the worst phase of the swine flu in 2019, shares in Muyuan surged about 200 per cent. Then, when the nation was put under lockdown in early February, the supply of pork and other foods were constrained — providing another boon for Muyuan that boosted the stock 80 per
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cent between February 3 and April 28. With about 57 per cent of the shares in Muyuan, Mr Qin and Ms Qian have seen the value of their personal holdings in the company rise more than 110 per cent since June last year, hitting $22bn at the end of March. That makes him the world’s richest farmer, according to Shanghai-based research company Hurun Report. The world’s second-richest farmer is also a Chinese pig farmer. Liu Yonghao and his family, who control New Hope Group, are worth $12.5bn, according to Hurun. “Who would have thought that pig farming could create wealth on such a scale,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Group chairman and chief researcher. It is unclear how long Mr Qin will hold on to the title of world’s richest farmer. Pork is China’s most popular protein, and higher prices or a shortage can leave Chinese consumers upset with the government. The recent surge in prices has led to more official intervention in the hopes of stabilising supply. “Culture-wise, pork is an essential ingredient for every household in China,” said Helena Huang, China economist at ICBC Standard Bank. DON WEINLAND AND SHERRY FEI JU BEIJING Read full @ https://on.ft.com/31n5ZpV Source: Financial Times
