Dear readers,

Let’s start with the good news:

• German prices seem to stay at the current level for at least the next 3 weeks
• Danish prices increase and so does the Spanish piglet price
• Smithfield Foods’ Chinese owner WH Group is working with banks to take the U.S.-based pork producer public again in the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported. Smithfield could list its shares as early as next year.
• Experts from the German Federal Institute for Meat Research developed a new stunning method using argon gas at the slaughterhouse in Kulmbach, Bavaria, which is said to be gentler on the slaughter pigs.

Events calendar:

• The Cibus Tec in Parma is among the most significant and long-standing exhibitions in the field of food technology. The fair is organized by Koeln Parma Exhibitions Srl, a joint venture between the renowned Koelnmesse GmbH and Fiere di Parma SpA. The Cibus Tec will take place on 4 days from Tuesday, 24. October to Friday, 27. October 2023 in Parma.
• The INDAGRA FOOD in Bucharest, Romania, is an international trade fair for the food industry. It is organized by Romexpo S.A. and takes place annually in October. The INDAGRA FOOD will take place on 5 days from Wednesday, 25. October to Sunday, 29. October 2023.

Turn The Page

            While we can see some positive evolution in terms of pricing, it is also related, in my opinion, with the increasing reduction of the number of pigs.

In the Netherlands a total of  290 applications have been submitted by pig companies that want to participate in the National Termination Schemes for Livestock Farming Locations, the majority of which are in Limburg and Brabant. 

According to provisional figures from the Belgian statistical agency, the national pig herd was reduced by 428,502 animals in May compared to a year earlier. This concerns a decrease in the pig herd of 7.3 percent, which is almost entirely attributable to pig farming in Flanders. The largest decrease can be seen in Flemish fattening pigs from 25 kilograms: minus 9.5 percent to 3.23 million. 

I have participated last week in a very interesting event, organized by the Romanian Association of Veterinarians Working in the Swine Industry. It gathered, beside a large number of professionals from the Romanian swine industry, numerous renowned international specialists. While topics where various, the main concern is still the African Swine Fever. In the new hotspot of the disease, the triple border of Bosnia-Herzegovina/Croatia/ Serbia, things are far from getting under control, and the overleap with the site of the Yugoslavian war raises concerns regarding the recovery of dead wild boar bodies, due to the still uncleared minefields. A recent information underlines the necessity to stamp out another 50 thousand pigs from Croatian  facilities that do not respect the requirements of the established minimal biological safety requirements, while 44 thousand have been already slaughtered.

Another outpointed challenge is the expected implementation of the new livestock transport rules. If the maximal duration will be the expected, of 8 hours, it will strongly affect the price of the massive piglet imports in Romania, estimated to range between 1,5-2 million/year.

On the meat industry side, while the Romanian pork market is completely dependent on imports, the lack of export possibilities limits the profitability of the entire pig industry.

The representative of the Romanian Veterinary Authority did attend the event, but left before the panel section…However, we got from his side an introduction speech on the beginning of the event, that could be resumed in the following sentence: in 6 years of fighting with the ASF, we cumulated a lot of experience.

Well, maybe this is not enough! Maybe we expect results! Maybe there is time to turn the page!

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

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,1 HW		70/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	1,98-2,12 HW		60/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,5 L		51/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,68 HW		71,5/25 kg
FRANCE	1,894 HW
ITALY	1,99 L115kg, 2,325 L160kg, DOC		116,5/30 kg
SPAIN	1,71 -1,73 L		63-72/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,39 HW
AUSTRIA	2,07 HW		90/25 kg
POLAND	1,5-1,79 L		66-107/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2,0-2,2 HW		95-100 / 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2,31 L		105-115/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,1 HW		69-74/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,67 -1,77 L		90-95/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,70 – 1,89 L		90-95/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,75 – 1,85 L		90-95/25kg		Partner info; no quotation