# Pork: Extraction

How a piglet becomes a 230-pound hog in six months

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/extraction/

What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.

Pigs are raised in breeding, nursery and finishing stages, now mostly in large confined units. They go to market at around 230 pounds and six months of age (Geman, pdf p. 172). Feed is mainly corn and soybean meal, at about three pounds of grain per pound of gain (Morgan, pdf p. 148). Carcasses are cut into loins, hams and bellies, and bellies become bacon. China's industry has moved fast from backyard pigs toward large farms. By-products include lard, gelatin and the blood thinner heparin.

Pork comes from three broad systems. Large integrated confinement farms now dominate in China, the US, the EU and Brazil: one company or a contract network controls genetics, feed, housing and often slaughter. Mid-sized family farms in Europe and North America sell to packers and co-operatives. Backyard and smallholder pigs, fed on scraps and crop residues, still matter in parts of Asia, Africa and India. Feed is the largest cost in every system, and disease, above all African swine fever, is the largest risk. The hog cycle is short: a gilt can be bred within months, so supply responds within about a year.

#### Methods compared

| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Large integrated confinement farms (China)** | China 45.5% of world pig meat output in 2024 (FAOSTAT); Muyuan about 10.8% of China's hog sales in 2025 | Muyuan: 77.98 million hogs sold in 2025; 2026 slaughter target 38 million | China average carcass 81 kg (FAOSTAT 2024) | fat, offal, manure for biogas and fertiliser | Muyuan full cost about 12 yuan/kg live weight in 2025, target 11.5 yuan/kg for 2026; national average live hog price 14.44 yuan/kg in 2025 |
| **Contract and company-owned production linked to packers (US, Canada, Mexico)** | US 10.1% of world output in 2024 (FAOSTAT); US pork output 27.6 bn lb in 2025 (WASDE) | Smithfield US capacity about 108,000 hogs a day at eight plants; Altosano (Mexico) 1.8 million hogs a year | US average carcass 97 kg (FAOSTAT 2024) | fat, offal, heparin raw material, rendered meals | No production cost found; price reference only: national base barrows and gilts $68.80/cwt in 2025, $63.79/cwt forecast for 2026 (WASDE, Oct 2026) |
| **Export-oriented family and co-operative farms (EU, Brazil)** | EU 21.3 Mt and Brazil 4.5 Mt of pork in 2024 (USDA PSD) | Brazil slaughtered 58.2 million pigs in 2024 (FAOSTAT) | Brazil average carcass 92 kg (FAOSTAT 2024) | fat, offal, manure | n/a |
| **Backyard and smallholder pigs (India, parts of Asia and Africa)** | India 0.37 Mt of pig meat in 2024, about 0.3% of world output (FAOSTAT) | India: 9.4 million pigs slaughtered in 2024 (FAOSTAT) | India average carcass 40 kg against a world average of 84 kg (FAOSTAT 2024) | manure | n/a |

#### How each method works
**Large integrated confinement farms (China)**

Corporate producers own breeding, feed mills, finishing units and now slaughter plants. Muyuan sold 77.98 million hogs in 2025, more than 10% of China's record 720 million, and slaughtered 28.66 million in its own plants.

Lowest costs and tight biosecurity, but thin margins in down-cycles (Muyuan profit per head fell from 214 yuan in 2024 to 31 yuan in 2025).
 Muyuan Foods 2025 annual report (HKEX filing, March 2026); Tiger Brokers summary, Apr 2026 **Contract and company-owned production linked to packers (US, Canada, Mexico)**

Packers own sow farms and contract independent growers to finish pigs, then slaughter and process them. Smithfield runs more than 240 company farms and 1,300 contract farms in the US, and about 40% of its fresh pork hogs came from its own production in fiscal 2025.

Scale and uniform hogs for export, but exposure to maize and soybean meal prices and to trade disputes.
 Smithfield Foods Form 10-K, fiscal 2025; USDA WASDE, Oct 2026; FAOSTAT 2024 **Export-oriented family and co-operative farms (EU, Brazil)**

Specialised farms in Spain, Germany, Denmark and southern Brazil sell pigs to co-operative or private packers that export a large share of output. Brazil's grain-belt farms have low feed costs.

Strong export access (Spain 17.5% of world export value in 2024), but EU farms face high environmental and welfare costs.
 USDA PSD; FAOSTAT 2024; UN Comtrade 2024 **Backyard and smallholder pigs (India, parts of Asia and Africa)**

Households keep a few pigs on kitchen waste and crop residues and sell them to local butchers. India's pig herd fell from 13.4 million in 2000 to 8.3 million in 2024.

Low cash cost and a source of household income, but low productivity and high exposure to African swine fever.
 FAOSTAT 2024 Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.

#### Who does it: global

| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Muyuan Foods** | China | hog farming and slaughter | 77.98 million hogs sold (28.66 million slaughtered) | 2025 | [Muyuan Foods 2025 annual report (HKEX)](https://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2026/0329/2026032900195.pdf) |
| **Smithfield Foods (majority owned by WH Group)** | US | hog production, pork packing and packaged meats | 108,000 hogs a day processing capacity (US, eight plants) | FY2025 | [Smithfield Foods Form 10-K, fiscal 2025](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/91388/000009138826000014/smf-20251228.htm) |
| **Tyson Foods** | US | pork packing | 5.781 US$ billion pork segment sales | FY2025 | [Talk Business & Politics, Nov 2025 (Tyson FY2025 results)](https://talkbusiness.net/2025/11/tyson-annual-revenue-tops-54-44-billion-beef-segment-posts-big-loss/) |
| **JBS (JBS USA Pork, Seara)** pork volumes not published in the results summary; group net revenue US$86.2 billion | Brazil | pork packing in the US and Brazil | not published | 2025 | [Beef Central, Mar 2026 (JBS 2025 results)](https://www.beefcentral.com/news/record-revenue-and-global-demand-drive-strong-full-year-result-for-jbs/) |
| **Wens Foodstuff Group** volume not published in a source found | China | contract hog farming | not published | n/a |  |
| **Danish Crown** volume not published in a source found | Denmark | co-operative pork packer and exporter | not published | n/a |  |

#### Who does it: India

India has no large pork producer or processor. Output was 0.37 Mt in 2024 from 8.3 million pigs, mostly backyard animals, and the herd has shrunk by 38% since 2000 (FAOSTAT). India does not appear among the top importers or exporters of pork.

## Other sections

- [Summary](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/index.md)
- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/correlation/index.md)
- [Production](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/production/index.md)
- [Stocks](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/stocks/index.md)
- [Cycles](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/cycles/index.md)
- [Trading](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/trading/index.md)
- [Movement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/movement/index.md)
- [Criticality](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/criticality/index.md)
- [Characteristics](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/characteristics/index.md)
- [Emissions](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/emissions/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/pork/links/index.md)