(Yicai Global) Oct. 15 -- Shares of Chinese pig farmers rose despite their third-quarter loss warnings as brokerages predict pork prices to resurge early next year.

Muyuan Foods's stock price [SHE: 002714] soared as much as 7.2 percent to CNY56.88 (USD8.80) intraday. The shares hit an all-time high of CNY92.10 last February amid years of surging pork prices.

New Hope Group's equity price [SHE: 000876] edged up as much as 2.6 percent to CNY13.54. The price is more than 45 percent down this year.

Not all pig breeders were rising. Zhengbang Technology's share price [SHE: 002157] dropped as much as 6.5 percent intraday.

Muyuan Foods will lose from CNY500 million (USD77.7 million) to CNY1 billion (USD155.4 million) in the third quarter, the Nanyang-headquartered company said in a statement yesterday. It had made a net profit of CNY10.2 billion (USD1.6 billion) in the same period a year ago.

New Hope predicted a loss in the range of CNY2.6 billion and CNY3 billion in the third quarter because of a big sales price drop and rising feed prices, the Chengdu-based firm said in a statement yesterday. It had earned CNY1.9 billion in net profit a year earlier.

Zhengbang Tech will lose from CNY5.5 billion to CNY6.5 billion in the quarter ended in September, the Nanchang-based firm forecast yesterday.

The warnings reflect slumping product prices. Pork prices fell 46.9 percent last month from a year earlier, accelerating the pace of declining, according to the Consumer Price Index the National Bureau of Statistics released yesterday.

But analysts remain optimistic. Pig breeders' business performance should recover along with their stock prices, several securities traders predicted. The industry should rebound strongly around Chinese New Year next February after a drop in production, Huaxi Securities wrote in a note.

Most firms' prices per pig are at the lowest levels in history so there's great room for price hikes, according to Pacific Securities.

Still, some brokerages moderated their enthusiasm. Pork prices are expected to continue fluctuating at low levels in the fourth quarter even though there is a chance of a rebound, per China Galaxy Securities.

The diving pork prices have prompted an intervention. On Oct. 10, the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Finance Ministry stored 30,000 tons of pork in national reserves in 12 provinces to stabilize market expectations, the commerce ministry said on its website on Oct. 11.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi