Dear readers,
Some reasons for optimism in the pig industry:
- The Canadian government is setting aside more than C$567 million to assist the nation’s hog producers in the event that any outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) are confirmed in North America.
- Minnesota State has opened applications for its Meat Education and Training (MEAT) grant, which funds meat processing education in schools. The state awarded $350,000 in the first round to nine school districts to establish or expand butchery training programs.
- Maximus Meats processing facility and retail space is set to open in Summerdale, Alabama, this year. The $11 million project will include onsite livestock processing, a full kitchen offering precooked orders, a general merchandise area and office space.
- In Spain the Malaga-based Faccsa company has just announced the acquisition of Dompal’s facilities in Jabugo, which specialize in Iberian hams and cured meats.
- 2024, Spanish pork exports to Japan and the Philippines grew significantly. Japan imported 191,853 tons of pork and pork products from Spain worth €787.22 million, representing an increase of 8.69% in volume and 21.65% in value. The Philippines imported 186,298 tons, valued at €316.58 million, representing a growth of 27.94% in volume and 15.78% in value .
- Volkswagen’s 2024 earnings revealed a 3% decline in vehicle sales alongside a 30% drop in net profits. The VW Currywurst, designated as the component number 199 398 500 A, has been serving the company’s employees and locals around its Wolfsburg headquarters since 1973. The IG Metall union, which represents Volkswagen’s German workers, confirmed that Volkswagen had sold 8.552 million portions of its currywurst last year.That’s only slightly lower than the 9 million cars the entire Volkswagen group sold last year. The currywurst sales already dwarf those of the Volkswagen brand itself, which stood at 5.2 million vehicles last year.
Events calendar:
- The UMAMI Arena is Norway’s leading trade fair for the food and beverage industry, held at the NOVA Spektrum in Lillestrøm. The UMAMI takes place on 3 days from Tuesday, 18. March to Thursday, 20. March 2025.
- The Food & Hotel Hanoi (FHH) is an international trade fair specializing in food, beverages, catering, and related equipment. It takes place at the ICE Hanoi International Exhibition Centre on 3 days from Tuesday, 18. March to Thursday, 20. March.
- The “Prager Karlsbörse” is a trade fair in the food and agricultural sector, which is held annually in Prague, Czech Republic. As the largest trade fair of its kind in Eastern Europe, it attracts professionals from various fields such as traders, cooperatives, analysts, and producers. This year it takes place on 2 days from Wednesday, 19.03.2025 to Thursday, 20.03.2025.
Arts and crafts:
- Chilean artist Marco Evaristti has launched a divisive exhibition in Denmark to draw attention to the cruelty of animals kept for their meat. The exhibition was to have included the starvation to death of three piglets, but the plan was foiled when the piglets were stolen from the gallery by animal rights activists.
Give It Up(Don’t Take Part In The Madness)
The world’s pig and pork market could change rapidly.
U.S. pork exports could be strongly affected by the tariff war with Mexico. Last year, the US exported approximately 1.155 million tons of pork to Mexico. Trade relations between European pork exporters and Mexico have so far been limited, only Spain shipped significant quantities of pork to Mexico last year (around 13,000 tons). However, the Spanish Interporc organization is working to strengthen trade relations with Mexico.
The U.S. export licenses issued by China five years ago were meant to auto-renew, but that was not happening and it seemed to be on purpose. US-based Global Agritrends director Brett Stuart: “So what we’re looking at right now in America, is waking up Monday morning and having $US3 billion worth of beef, pork and poultry no longer eligible to export to China …China has already imposed retaliation tariffs on US beef, pork and poultry and it’s very easy for them to sit by and not answer the phone. “ Anyhow, the Chinese government implemented new tariffs on a variety of U.S. agricultural products: tariff on U.S. pork will increase from 37% to 47%, while tariff on U.S. beef will rise from 12% to 22%. Additionally, U.S. poultry products now face a 15% tariff. According to USDA analysis, China and Hong Kong account for 5% of U.S. poultry exports (two-thirds of which is for chicken paws), 15% of pork exports, and 14% of beef exports.
This could be an opportunity for the European pig industry to also strengthen the presence in the Chinese market, but are we ready?
In Poland over 300 herds of pigs went out of business in February, and the number of animals fell by over 200,000. In January and February 2025, the Danes delivered a total of 1.12 million piglets to Poland, 2.3 percent less than in the same period in 2024. From January to the end of February 2025, Danish piglet producers sold around 1 million piglets to Germany, around 17% less than in the same period last year. Compared to the previous year (2.36 million animals), Denmark exported 12.3 % fewer piglets. In 2024 the Danes exported 16.64 million piglets, exceeding the 2023 level by 1.45 million animals and the 2022 figure by 2.32 million animals.
Diseases continue to impose a huge risk in the farming. African Swine Fever(A.S.F.) vaccines have been recently developed and marketed in Vietnam.
A new study has found that the African swine fever (ASF) vaccine containing the modified live virus strain ASFV-G-∆I177L is not genetically stable and may revert to virulence, causing harm to pregnant sows and their offspring. The study raises concerns about the safety and efficacy of a vaccine that has already been used commercially. Researchers observed that after the vaccine was administered to pregnant sows, one of them exhibited moderate clinical signs of ASF.
Another risk is posed by the Foot-and-Mouth Disease(FMD). While the case in Germany seems to be contained and closed, we faced a new outbreak in Hungary at the beginning of March.
The FMD hit a milking cow farm in the vicinity of Győr, the protective measures reaching also a small area of the neighboring Slovakia. The first days of the outbreak have caused a complete madness. As the Hungarian Veterinary Authority was investigating the case, some EU member states have been taking overprotective measures, even forbidding the transit of Hungary with livestock transport. Please take a look on a map: it is almost impossible to avoid Hungary while transporting live animals to the East of Europe. Serbia, as a non-EU country, has some protective measures that are impossible to follow and, in the current political situation, there is no one to overrule them. On the other side, trough Ukraine, who accepts to drive trough and at what cost?
After the EU decision clarified the FMD situation in Hungary, many countries dropped the excessive protective measures, while Romania is still blocking the livestock movement from whole Hungary. Give It Up(Don’t Take Part In The Madness).
