Dear readers,
The weekly journey through the most important news and events in the pork industry continues.
As usual, let’s start with some good news:
• In Spain, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has granted extraordinary aid of 1.9 million euros to pig farm owners and potato growers in the Balearic Islands.
• The US government is offering $59 million in grants to independent meat processors to dilute the power of the big meat processing firms. The grants will be used to build new factories, expand facilities and develop green processes. The move aims to improve prices for farmers and consumers and increase competitiveness. The White House plans to spend a total of about $1 billion to strengthen meat supply chains.
Calendar of events:
• Between March 6 and 8, the Meat Attraction Fair takes place in Madrid, Spain. According to the organizers, more than 300 exhibitors, brands and companies will present the latest innovations to the more than 20,000 professional trade visitors from 50 countries attending Meat Attraction.
• VIV ASIA & MEAT PRO ASIA 2023 takes place from March 8-10 at the IMPACT event hall in Bangkok, Thailand. Many European companies in our field of activity also participate.
• Royal GD Holland is organizing a debate on the national PRRS program in Deventer on 8 March.
Call me!
There were some over-optimistic expectations for further growth in the German quotation. I was questioning this based on the lack of demand even with the reduced supply of hogs. One more event came to support the extension of the current price level: according to a press release from the Brandenburg Ministry of Consumer Protection, the local veterinary office immediately closed a small farm with 11 pigs after a possible outbreak of ASF was suspected and they the necessary measures have been initiated. All animals were sacrificed. On Tuesday, the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut reference laboratory confirmed the ASF virus.
Some neighboring states reacted, but in a very different way:
• In the Netherlands, starting March 1, lorries transporting pigs must undergo a second cleaning and disinfection immediately after returning from Germany. The obligation of the second cleaning and disinfection was already established for Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Italy and all countries outside the European Union.
• In strange timing, Poland’s agriculture minister has proposed relaxing biosecurity rules on small pig farms.
An interesting price development is taking place in Denmark. Currently, the market price of Danish pigs is the lowest among the main producing countries, but pork prices are already in line with Spanish competitors, for example. Also, for the first time, the market price of the pig and the price of PRRS-negative piglets remained unchanged, but the price of PRRS-positive piglets increased by 10 kroner (1.34 EUR)/pc. Is this a sign of the declining availability of the well-known Danish piglets?!
Much good and valuable information comes from you, friends, colleagues and readers. I quote one, received these days, below:
„The real Spanish price for hot carcass is live price/0.76 + 5-10 cents extra paid to farmers: live weight 1.89 hot 2.48 + 7 cents = 2.55 eur/kg Also the real price paid to French farmers is the official quotation + 15 cents. Last week 2.30 + 15 cents = 2.45 eur/kg” Thanks a lot, Ramon!
Do you have something interesting to share related to the pig industry? This newsletter has been issued for almost 3 years, weekly, in Romanian, English and Hungarian and reaches thousands of readers around the world, through various social media channels. Call me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8c04XHCF8k&list=RDW8c04XHCF8k&index=1
European pig and piglet prices: HW= Hot weight; L= live weight;
| COUNTRY | PIG(EUR) | TREND | PIGLET(EUR) | TREND | OBSERVATION |
| GERMANY | 2,28 HW |  | 80/25 kg | | |
| NETHERLANDS | 2,09-2,3 HW | | 75/25 kg |  | |
| BELGIUM | 1,65 L | | 72/20 kg | | |
| DANEMARK | 1,61 HW | | 79/25 kg | | |
| FRANCE | 2,306 HW | | |||
| ITALY | 1,84 L- 115 kg, 2,15 L- 160 kg, D.O.P. | | 125/30 kg | | |
| SPAIN | 1,89-1,91 L | | 96-105/20kg | | |
| AUSTRIA | 2,24 HW | | 95 /25 kg | | |
| POLAND | 1,55-1,83 L |  | 70-112/20-30 kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
| SERBIA | 1,87-1,9 L | | 99-108/ 25 kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
| CZECH R. | 2,27-2,32-HW | | 75-81/ 25 kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
| SLOVAKIA | 1,85-1,95 L | | 98-101/25 kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
| HUNGARY | 1,85-1,95 L | | 98-101/ 25 kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
| ROMANIA | 1,78-1,9 L | | 100-103/25kg | | Partner info; no quotation |
