Pork Industry Overview, February 2003: Netherlands and Poland

By USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service - This article provides a summary of pork industry data from the USDA FAS Livestock and Products Semi-Annual 2003 reports for the Netherlands and Poland. Links to the full reports are also provided. The full reports include all the tabular data which we have omited from the summaries.

17 February 2003

4 minute read

The Netherlands - Swine and Pork

Dutch pig sector consolidates in response to overcome crisis.

In August 2002, the Dutch pig stock was estimated at 11.4 million, nearly 10 percent lower than the year before. The reduction is caused by increased production costs due to environmental and animal welfare restrictions as well as the second agricultural land purchase program of the Dutch government. The Dutch government’s goal is reportedly to reduce the Dutch pig stock to about 10 million animals.

The Dutch pig sector is also affected by low prices caused by the recovery of EU beef consumption, limits on imports due to the safeguard measures in Japan, and strong export competition from the US, Canada and Brasil, in particular on the Russian market.

In addition, due to the FMD outbreak in 2001, Dutch pork lost market share in third countries, mainly to U.S. and Danish pork. The Russian market was re-opened in July 2001, and Hong Kong and South Korea followed soon after. The export of Dutch pork to Japan has been possible since October 2002, but export volumes are limited due the enforcement of safeguard measures. In 2002, exports recovered mainly to EEC destination Russia, Romania, Poland and Hungary.

Sector profitability and pig production could rebound if export opportunities improve. Opportunities reportedly still exists in EU and EEC markets and improvement of efficiency and competitiveness through integration and consolidation of the slaughtering and processing sectors could make the Dutch industry more competitive.

In December 2002, the Dutch Southern Farmers Organization (ZLTO) bought the German meat company Moksel, and revealed plans to take over the Dutch meat company Dumeco, forming a new organization called Bestmeat Company. With a turn over of more than EURO 4 billion, Bestmeat Company will be the second largest meat company in the EU after Danish Crown (EURO 5.5 billion).

To view the PDF report(ideal for printing) Click Here

Poland - Pork

The hog inventories cycle is expected to peak in mid 2003 and start to decline in the second half of the year. Hog slaughter and pork output is expected to increase in 2003.

Pork remains the primary meat produced in Poland. In 2003, pork production is expected to increase due to low feed grain prices, decreasing inventories and higher slaughter. In 2003, pork consumption is expected to increase by 5 percent because of lower prices as a result of growing output.

Trade

Imports
Poland’s live hog imports are limited to breeding hogs mainly from France. In 2002, Poland increased imports of raw hams from the United States which were processed in Poland and then re-exported to the U.S.

In 2003, pork imports are expected to decrease due to higher domestic output. The total import quota for pork in 2003 is 46,480 tons (HTS 0203). The within tariff quota is 30 percent. All meat shipments to Poland must be accompanied by a health certificate issued by a government-approved veterinarian from the exporting country. Products also must bear a label in the Polish language with the date of production clearly stated.

Exports
Exports of canned hams to the United States are expected to grow in 2003 due to higher pork output. Canned hams and shoulders exported to the United States are produced in USDA-inspected plants and are generally of higher quality than available on the domestic market. It is estimated that exports of pork and pork products in 2003 will increase by 20 percent compared to the 2002 level as a result of higher output and increased government intervention including more export subsidies.

To view the PDF report and tables (ideal for printing) Click Here