(Yicai Global) Feb. 5 -- China's livestock and poultry raising sector has been hit hard as the novel coronavirus pneumonia epidemic affects the transport of people and materials.

Live poultry markets are shuttered and sales are severely affected, industry insiders said, with actual sales prices now only about half of costs. The huge losses anticipated will induce many to give up livestock raising, leading to a future shortage of meat and poultry and skyrocketing prices, said Wang Zhong, chief consultant of Mouyi Consulting and chairman of Zhongjia Rongda Investment.

The sector is still reeling from a pandemic of African swine fever that has ravaged pig herds throughout the country, so this latest pestilence, albeit not known to infect non-humans, may well sound the death knell for many small farmers and those in the central epidemic zone, who will be hardest hit by its economic fallout.

Breeders also face difficulties in selling pigs, accessing feed, and even disposing of pig carcasses because of road closures in rural areas, Xie Jinfeng, who transports live hogs in central Hubei province, told Yicai Global.

Stock-raisers in some areas have to truck in fodder from officially designated spots due to roadblocks, and this also burdens piggeries with added labor and material costs, Xie said.

Large listed companies in the business are relatively less affected. The sector is indeed feeling the effects of the epidemic in the short term, but its influence in the long haul is hard to gauge, Xu Wei, board secretary of Shandong Longda Meat Foodstuff told Yicai Global.

Longda's breeding business is the only sector that is working now and its slaughtering business has basically not resumed since this requires a government application and approval, Xu said. It will restart on Feb. 10 at the latest, however. Longda's home province of Shandong in east-central China is a major feed production area and the company also has its own feed factory, so it has no major problem with its fodder supply, Xu said, adding the company generally holds reserves sufficient for from one to three months.

Shandong Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding's feed and the material supplies for its farms are in a normal state, the leading chicken farmer said in a statement yesterday.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Ben Armour