Dear readers,

The positive tendency of the pig and piglet prices continued in Europe, while we can find also other optimistic developments of the industry:

• The Canadian Meat Council (CMC), Consejo Mexicano de la Carne (COMECARNE), and The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) in the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that formalizes the three associations’ ongoing work to improve trade, reduce regulatory barriers, and enhance information exchange within North
• The Spanish Serrano Ham Consortium (CJSE) released the export data of its Consorcio Serrano quality seal corresponding to the year 2023, with a total of 738,248 sealed pieces, a figure that represents an increase of 3.93% compared to exports of the previous year in accumulated terms.
• ANFACO-CECOPESCA (Organization of the sea-industry complex), ANICE (National Association of Meat Industries of Spain) and AVIANZA (Spanish Interprofessional Association of Poultry Meat) have undertaken a common national initiative in defense of seafood, meat and poultry products, given the growing presence in the Spanish market of imitation vegan foods whose objective is to take advantage of the reputation of products of animal origin, attempting to mislead the consumer through its advertising and labeling.
• Speaking after a meeting with the main farmers’ organizations in Spain, Spanish Agriculture Minister Luis Planas announced that he will call on the European Commission to update the EU’s directive on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain.
• For the first 8 months of 2023/24 MY (July-February), Russia can export about 46.6 million tons of grain. This forecast was provided by Igor Pavensky, head of the agricultural markets analysis department of Rusagrotrans JSC, reports Finmarket.“This is much more year-on-year (38.7 million tons). The forecast for the entire 2023/24 MY is 66.7 million tons, and taking into account pulses (3.46 million tons) and flour (1.6 million tons), the total figure will be 71.8 million tons ” the analyst said.

Events calendar:

• The 20’th, anniversary edition of the FOOD & LIFE event in Munich is a consumer and sales fair dedicated entirely to the themes of food, drink, and enjoyment, organized twice a year since 2023. The fair takes place on 5 days from Wednesday, 28.02.2024 to Sunday, 03.03.2024.
• „Prager Karlsbörse” is an important meeting point for professionals in the food and agricultural sector. The fair at the Prague Congress Centre takes place on Wednesday, 28.02.2024.

Your Coffee

As we can see, the main European pig producer, Spain, is working on protecting and promoting the interest of this industry. Also, I would like to draw attention to the fact that, while we see strong protest against the Ukrainian grains, the largest exporter is Russia and grain prices are driven by the main stock exchanges: Matif Paris and CME Chicago.

According to the latest  available results, there were decreases in the pig census in 17 countries, including Germany (-0.7%), France (-3.2%), Denmark (-1.5%) and the Netherlands (-2%). More pigs were counted in 8 countries than the previous year, including Spain (+1.1%), Poland (+1.5%) and Italy (+4.9%). Spain continued to expand its production, after a small reduction of 1,1% in 2022. With around 34.5 million pigs, Spain produces 35.1% more than in 2013, following the trend of the last 10 years.

Germany is currently the second largest European producer, as its census decreased by 24.6% over the last 10 years. We are still using the German reference price as an indicator, even some markets show strong tendencies in exceeding this quotation.

The interest group of the German pig industry(I.S.N.) hosted its general meeting in the recent days. Clemens Tönnies, owner of the largest meat company in Germany, spoke out in favor of a fixed price model for pig marketing lasting several months. “Price adjustments 30 to 40 times a year are of no use to anyone. We need security!” emphasized Tönnies. Michael Schulze Kalthoff, board member of the Münster meat company Westfleisch, also shared this assessment. For Clemens Tönnies, this also includes a healthy piglet price: “The market should be made more even, no one should have a good year at the expense of another.” The first suggestions for a possible design of this model could be a half-yearly or two to three-month price. So: still trying to push back the farmers, instead of fighting with the unfair margins of the retail chains. Where were this concerned gentlemen exactly two years ago, when the pig price was 1,2 €/kg hot weight and the piglets where at 28 €/ a piece?

An interesting pairing of two largely consumed products has hit the market during the Chinese New Year celebrations: Starbucks’ Reserve Roastery in Shanghai announced a limited edition pork-infused latte coffee, whose name translates into „Abundant Year Savory Latte” and is pictured with a slice of skewered pork perched on top of the mug. Its official English name is the „Lucky Savory Latte.” Would you make it your coffee?

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

COUNTRY	PIG(EUR)	TREND	PIGLET(EUR)	TREND	OBSERVATION
GERMANY	2,15 HW		83/25 kg
NETHERLANDS	1,92-2,17 HW		75/25 kg
BELGIUM	1,53 L		75/20 kg
DANEMARK	1,62-1,65 HW		88,5/30 kg
FRANCE	1,907 HW
ITALY	1,71 L115kg, 2,06 L160kg, DOC		133,4/30 kg
SPAIN	1,66 -1,69 L		86-95/20kg
PORTUGAL	2,36 HW
AUSTRIA	2,09 HW		99/31 kg
POLAND	1,45 – 1,84 L		81-129/20-30 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CROATIA	2 – 2,1 HW		102-113/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SERBIA	2,04 L		110-117/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
CZECH R.	2,09 – 2,13 HW		69-74/ 25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
SLOVAKIA	1,65 -1,73 L		103-108/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
HUNGARY	1,73 – 1,82 L		103-108/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation
ROMANIA	1,61 – 1,75 L		103-108/25 kg		Partner info; no quotation