Dear readers,
Some positive market evolutions related to the swine market:
- Greece proposes to create a transport corridor that will connect the Greek port of Alexandroupolis with Ukrainian Odesa through Bulgarian Varna and Romanian Constanta, as announced by the Prime Minister of Greece during the “Ukraine-Southeastern Europe” summit in Odesa. The corridor would include railway transport routes, power lines, gas pipelines, and it would be a project that “would provide an additional communication corridor for Ukraine, faster than transporting goods by sea.”
- According to preliminary estimates, global grain production (including rice in milled equivalent) could reach a record 2.911 billion tons in 2025, which would be 2.1% more than in 2024. This forecast is included in the May report from FAO analysts of the UN, the FAO press service reported. Animal feed should be affordable in the next period.
- The industrial pig slaughterhouse proposed by Cárnicas Iruña in Lumbier, Spain, has received environmental approval from the Government of Navarre, in accordance with the environmental impact report. The project will include a slaughterhouse with a slaughtering capacity of 550 pigs per hour, capable of slaughtering 1,480,000 pigs per year . The facility will be located next to the existing cutting plant and it will also have the capacity to offer slaughtering services to third parties.
- Olymel has announced investment of $142 million its La Fernandière plant in Trois-Rivières, Canada. Construction will begin in the next few days, with the start of operations scheduled for spring 2026 The plant manufactures sausages at the present time and it will expand production to include a wider range of pork and poultry products in an integrated facility where products can be fully processed and packaged on site.
Events calendar:
- SeneFood is an annual international trade fair for food and food processing in West Africa, held in Rufisque, Senegal. The event is held on 3 days from Thursday, 19.06.2025 to Saturday, 21.06.2025.
- The Good Food & Wine Show is an annual consumer exhibition that has established itself as a central event for culinary enthusiasts. The event is organized at the renowned International Convention Centre (ICC) in Sydney, Australia, on 3 days from Friday, 20. June to Sunday, 22. June 2025.
- GRILLFEST, the largest BBQ festival in Europe, founded in 2023, in Romania, is a gastronomic culture event that brings together consumers and the biggest players in the meat and hospitality industry. GRILLFEST is the framework in which the public has the opportunity to learn directly from industry specialists the latest information related to quality meat, nutrition, cooking techniques and gastronomic trends. This year it is organized in Bucharest, at the National Arena, between 20-22 of June. See you there!
Backup Plan
In a somehow surprising decision, German antitrust authorities have banned the acquisition by meatpacking firm Tönnies of the Dutch Vion pig slaughterhouse s in Germany, located in Buchloe, Crailsheim and Waldkraiburg: “The acquisition of the Vion facilities raised competition concerns, as it would have strengthened Tönnies’ market position to the detriment of livestock farmers and smaller competitors remaining in the affected regions . In addition to its already dominant position in the German pig slaughtering and processing industry, Tönnies would also have achieved a leading position in the cattle slaughtering and processing industry . The acquisition would reduce the options for producers and customers to switch to alternative companies.”
The argument is fully supported by market data. In fact, Tönnies already seems to have a dominant position in the German pig market. It is also interesting to understand what could be the reason to buy the Vion slaughterhouses, when the actual number of pigs in Germany is below the capacity of the existing slaughterhouses. In fact, a few weeks ago Clemens Tönnies was already complaining about the low number of piglets born in Germany, so much needed for the national market, as the pork sales are currently driven by animal welfare and origin. According to market players, Tönnies is now slaughtering only 4 days a week, as they cannot find enough pigs. In order to improve the financial results of the plants, Tönnies tries to reduce the pig quotation, a maneuver that is not supported by the low number of pigs and the increasing temperatures that will reduce the weight gain and complicate the transport schedules. Does Tönnies have a backup plan?
