Dear readers,
We continue to spread good news regarding our industry:
- The University of Missouri has announced the start of construction on the Michael L. Parson Meat Science Education and Training Laboratory . In 2023 and 2024, governor Parson signed budget bills that included a total of $35 million for the facility that now bears his name, just a fraction of the support provided to the University System of Missouri during his tenure.
- U.S. pork inventory in cold storage was 191.550 tons, down 0.3% from February but 8.8% less than a year ago, according to Steiner Consulting Group’s Daily Livestock Report (DLR). This is the lowest March value in more than 25 years and more than 12% below the five-year average: “Current pork inventories leave little cushion heading into peak grilling season.” Pork belly supplies jumped 14% from the previous month but are still more than 25% smaller than a year ago. Pork trim is similarly 13.2% off the five-year average.
- The Romanian state company “Constanta Maritime Ports Administration,” which manages all Romanian ports on the Black Sea, is interested in purchasing Danube Logistics – the operator and leaseholder of the Giurgiulești International Port of Republic of Moldova, which is being sold by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The port is strategically positioned on the Danube, just a few hundreds of meters away from Ukraine and could be a hub for the Ukrainian grain trade.
Events calendar:
- IFFA – the International Trade Fair for the Meat Industry – is the world’s leading trade show for processing, packaging, and marketing of meat and alternative proteins. The IFFA will take place on 6 days from Saturday, 03. May to Thursday, 08. May 2025 in Frankfurt, Germany.
- Bellavita Milano is an international trade fair dedicated to showcasing and promoting Italian food and beverages. It takes place at Fiera Milano (Rho) on 4 days from Monday, 05. May to Thursday, 08. May 2025.
First of May
As expected, China is making its biggest cancellation of pork orders since 2020, according to data from the USDA. The cancellation of 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork last week was the most since the Covid-19 pandemic roiled global supply chains. For the week, overall U.S. pork export sales fell to the lowest level since October. China’s retaliatory duties against President Donald Trump’s tariffs on imports from the Asian nation mean American pork imports now face a 172% tariff, including levies from the first trade war in 2018, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Chinese Ambassador Wang Di said that Beijing would be willing to remove its newly implemented tariffs on Canadian pork and other agricultural goods if Ottawa dropped stiff levies imposed last year against Chinese electric vehicles.
The US trade war also increased the orders for the European pork producers with Asian export licenses. German producers are also working on regaining access to this markets, after regaining the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) free status. Spain already closed deals during the recent diplomatic tour in Asia, and the CEO of Danish Crown was included in the delegation of King Frederik the X for the official visit to Japan.
In Hungary, a new case of FMD last week caused the prolongation of the animal movement restrictions and causes serious troubles in pig supply chain. The Hungarian state initiated different compensation systems in order to solve the situation of the pigs blocked in the FMD areas, even though storage for the pork consumption of the public entities.
Slovakia did not report any new cases, but the actual rules for pig movement to the slaughterhouses is very complicated, with high cost for the farmers. Even so, the slaughterhouses are not willing to take the pigs. For the moment, no clear compensation measures have been announced for the farmers.
In both states, while everyone is concerned about the effects of FMD on the agricultural sector, no one is willing to accept the disposal of the dead animals in their area.
The increase of the German pig quotation was kind of a surprise. Usually, during 3 weeks with less working days, pigs are clogging up on the line to the slaughterhouses and it takes at least one additional week to clear the stocks, so the expectation for the price increase was for the 7-th of May. On the other hand, the increase rapidly went trough on most of the European markets, supporting the idea that the availability of pigs is not enough for the demand of the large slaughterhouse operators.
We can hope for good times for the pork consumption, the tourist and grilling season starts with First of May.
