Dear readers,

Looking for some good news in the pig industry? Read below:

• The Government of Canada is protecting the Canadian pork sector by supporting prevention and preparedness measures for African swine fever trough an investment of up to $9,645,586 to fund 29 African Swine Fever Industry Preparedness Program in  29 projects. The investment will fund African swine fever research, improved biosecurity measures, feral swine management activities, modernizations of existing slaughterhouses, regional preparedness for welfare depopulation and disposal of healthy pigs, and analysis, engagement and education tools. HyLife Foods, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and Olymel are among the Canadian processors set to receive funding together with several pork industry associations and Canadian universities.
• The USDA named the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) one of 66 recipients of $300 million in funding aimed to increase demand for American food and farm exports in emerging global market. $21 million are distributed to USMEF  from the USDA’s Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP).

Events calendar:

• Since its inception in 2000, SIAL China has been a leading international trade fair for food and beverages, held annually at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. This year SIAL China will take place on 3 days from Tuesday, 28. May to Thursday, 30. May 2024.
• Thaifex Anuga Asia is an international trade fair for food, beverages, catering, food technology, and hotel and restaurant supplies organized by Koelnmesse Co., Ltd., held annually at the IMPACT Exhibition Center in Nonthaburi. Anuga Asia will take place from Tuesday, 28. May to Saturday, 01. June 2024.
• InterFood Astana is an international trade fair specializing in the areas of food and beverage, food and beverage technology, agriculture, packaging technology and materials, and ingredients. It takes place annually at the IEC EXPO International Exhibition Center in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, on 3 days from Wednesday, 29.05.2024 to Friday, 31.05.2024.

Nice to Meet You

In the European market, we can see some seasonal and strategic price evolutions. While still looking to the German reference quotation, some national prices evolve regardless to it.

            Maybe the most interesting evolution is in Danmark. The dominant player, Danish Crown, reduced the purchasing price of the market hogs 3 weeks ago, a movement not followed by the Tican slaughterhouse, member of the German Tönnies group. This week they even increased the price with 3 cents, in a time when the Danish Crown cooperative is trying to increase the supplier base.

            In Germany the consolidation of the pig slaughtering industry continues, with no changes in the top positions, but the distance between the top two(Tönnies and Westfleisch) and the next positions, held by Vion and Danish Crown, increased, a process that will continue during this year, due to the restructuring measures taken by this operators.

            In the East of Europe, the traditional grill season priced increase gradually steps in. The prices in Poland also shifted up, but currency exchange also play a role, we will see in a couple  weeks if the process is continuos.

            Last Friday I have been one of the speakers in an international conference held in Romania. As usually, we where debating common and specific challenges of the swine industry in our home countries.            

In Europe we identify some common issues: the political pressure for so called increased animal welfare standards is mentioned by all. I wonder if the initiators of this regulations would move back in a cave from the city, because this is what they are pushing for, in the case of pigs.

The second one is the ASF, affecting more and more countries. The specificity of the East of Europe, with large numbers of households with pigs, poses the highest challenge in finding a solution on the biosecurity level.

What we all agreed: we need to do more to promote the swine industry, we need to speak more about what and how we are doing today and we have to show that our industry can also provide viable employment paths, careers. Dear colleagues, attendees, it was nice to meet you!

European pig and piglet prices: HW= Hot weight; L= live weight;

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,20 HW		85/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	1,97-2,22 HW		72,5/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,60 L		69/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,61-1,68 HW		93/30 kg
FRANCE	2,03 HW
ITALY	1,53 L 115kg, 1,93 L 160kg,		145,2/30 kg
SPAIN	1,75 – 1,81 L		91-95/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,53 HW
AUSTRIA	2,16 HW		109/31 kg
POLAND	1,52 – 1,99 L		94-137/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2,0 – 2,1 HW		106-115/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2-2,1 L		120-130/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,13 – 2,17 HW		70-76/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,65 -1,7 L		107-113/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,74 – 1,84 L		107-113/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,63 – 1,73 L		107-117/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation