Monterey is not shutting down its operations despite the move to transform its hog inventory to local raisers, an official from San Miguel Corporation (SMC) said.

SMC Media Affairs Group Head Mary Jane Llanes said SMC is not shutting down Monterey following the decision of San Miguel Corporation (SMC), through its food unit San Miguel Foods (SMF), to rationalize the operations of Monterey.

As part of the rationalization, SMC transferred its nationwide hog inventory to local raisers amid the persistence of African Swine Fever (ASF).

To recall, SMC has hog farms all over the country through SMFI, which sells meat products under the Purefoods and Monterey brand.

Monterey also has investments in feed milling, breeding, livestock raising, slaughtering, meat retailing, and meat processing technology. It has farms in Bulacan, Tarlac, and Pampanga, all of which were badly hit by ASF.

"We are just making Monterey more efficient by focusing on the hog business of Monterey of which we are looking to transfer our hog inventory to potential buyers preferably smallholder farmers and existing contract growers. But not closing it," Llanes said.

SMC has not yet responded when asked to provide more details regarding the company's rationalization plan for Monterey.

It only said in a statement that such a move will allow local raisers to supply the requirements of their respective regions and help strengthen biosecurity practices among smallholder farmers.

"As bans on the transportation of pork and pork products remain in place across the country due to the ASF, Monterey, a national player, has found the situation challenging, which made it decide to shift gears and transfer inventories to local raisers," it said.

ASF, a fatal animal disease among hogs, has so far resulted in the death and culling of more than 500,000 hogs in the country.

Its persistence has also caused some hog raisers to either cut down or suspend their production and shift to other livelihoods.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), for its part, already set aside billions of funds for a massive hog re-population program.

The tightness in hog supply in Luzon, the most badly hit by the animal disease, is one of the main reasons why the price of pork in Metro Manila and nearby areas rose to unprecedented levels over the past weeks.

As of Tuesday, the price of pork stood at P270 to P300 per kilogram (/kg) at select markets in Metro Manila. Pre-ASF, the price of pork only averaged from P190/kg to P200/kg.