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No fresh beef will be available for sale in Hong Kong today, and the retail price of pork jumped  more than 10 per cent yesterday.
The major livestock importer said bad weather had disrupted the supply of live cattle and pigs.
The retail price of fresh beef increased  from HK$56 to HK$60 per catty (600 grams) yesterday.  Most beef stalls will be closed today, as they are all out of stock.
The retail price of pork rose  from HK$38 to HK$42 per catty.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok  warned  traders against  quoting the  rising prices for some pigs as the price for all pork.  The government would not allow anyone to interfere with the market by releasing false information,  he said. He would not say whether  any traders were controlling prices.
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah,  speaking at the Legislative Council yesterday, said the government had noticed  'unusual fluctuations' in  the prices of small numbers  of pigs amid a stable supply of live pigs.
The Consumer Council would look into whether  the market was 'unhealthy', Mr Tsang said.  The government would  observe  developments closely.
The vice-chairman of the Kowloon Beef and Mutton Merchants'  Association, Chow Tak,  said consumers would not be able to buy  fresh beef because of lack of supply.
'The auction for live cattle was cancelled, so there will be no fresh beef in wet markets,' he said. 'Stalls can only sell beef that has been frozen overnight, if they stay open today. But that is not really fresh beef, as it stays in the fridge overnight.'
Ng Fung Hong,  the city's main pig importer,  said Hong Kong's  live-cattle supply  had been disrupted  by snow that caused traffic jams on major mainland highways.
The same reason was cited for the decreasing supply of live pigs, which pushed the retail price up to HK$42 to HK$46 per catty.
An official with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the city was supplied with  3,576 live pigs yesterday -  3,319 from the mainland and the rest  from local farms.
The vice-president of the Pork Traders'  General Association,  Hui Wai-kin, said the wholesale price was  about HK$1,600 to HK$1,700 per 100 catties yesterday, much less than Tuesday's price  - which ranged between HK$2,200 and HK$2,400 per 100 catties.
However, Ng Fung Hong's claim of a weather-related disruption was doubted by Choi Chi-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Agriculture Special Zone Company, another live-pig supplier.
'Suppliers of Ng Fung Hong and my suppliers are both in Hubei  and Hunan ,' he said. 'How come I can transport my pigs to Hong Kong but they have traffic problems due to bad weather? I think it is just an excuse. I don't know what game they are playing.'
A lawmaker has accused Fresh Meat United,  a group that represents meat traders in Hong Kong, of manipulating  the market through the media.
Chan Kam-lam,  of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, also urged the administration to prohibit traders from interfering in the market.
But Fresh Meat United spokesman Ling Wai-yip   accused legislators of being irresponsible for making such accusations.
'Some wholesalers who supply pork to big corporations fear that they cannot buy enough, and that is why they offer to pay a very high price at auction, pushing up the price level,' he said.
'We do not benefit from telling the media about the true supply  situation at auctions. We suffer for informing the public about what is going on, as they stop buying fresh pork from us.
'Why would we do something that hurts our own interests? It is unfair to accuse us when we are telling the truth,' Mr Ling said.



Weather blamed for fresh-meat shortage