Pig meat demand on the Danish market has been fairly stable throughout January and into February. However, by the end of January, there was a slight decline in supply from slaughterhouses, leading to a push in prices. Danish Crown estimates that it will be possible to sell 100,000 more organic pigs than the current amount. The only setback lies in inadequate supply of pigs to sell. Prospects are that production of organic pigs will stay unchanged.

In France, and in Europe in general, offer is on the decline. At the same time, demand is high, particularly for exports.

Demand on the German wholesale market has been staying quiet. Last year, consumers bought less meat and meat products compared to 2010. According to data, 2.2 per cent less meat was purchased. Pig meat and beef prices rose by 9.4 and 4.4 per cent respectively. Germany was marked as the number one exporter of fresh and frozen pig meat in the world last year. Between January and December 2011, 1.41 million tonnes of pig meat was exported.

The Governor of the Russian province, Kuban, Aleksander Tkachov, laid off deputy-governors because they did not show professional skills in the fight against ASF, according to BPEX's Weekly Export Bulletin. The Governor also passed several regulations to help stop the disease. Also, according to the country's Ministry of Agriculture, production of pork trebled over the last half decade.

Chinese pig meat production has dropped by 3 per cent. Direct imports of pork rose in 2011. The USA comprised more than half, followed by Denmark, Canada, Spain, France and Germany.

South African retailers are expanding aggressively all over Sub-Saharan Africa and are due to benefit from rising consumption in these parts. Food labelling remains a difficult area with the new GMO labelling legislation postponed and country of origin labelling for meat yet to be implemented.

Further Reading

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