Disease Outbreak Would Cost British Pork Producers Dearly
UK - If you include offals, the United Kingdom pig sector is now exporting a remarkable 25 per cent of its output — which is one of the reasons producers are currently able to pay down some of their debt, for the first time in years, according to the National Pig Association (NPA).![](https://cdn.globalagmedia.com/pig/legacy/files/news/old/13-09-30NPAExports.jpg)
The value of pig meat exports, including offals, last year was around £310 million, with China accounting for £119 million of this.
But what would happen if the swill-feeding ban were relaxed — resulting, almost inevitably sooner or later, in an outbreak of exotic disease?
Defra and BPEX have provided figures that show producers would suffer an almost immediate drop of 30p to 40p a kilo, which would plunge every commercial pig unit in the country deep into the red.
Total deadweight value of United Kingdom pig meat last year was £1.22 billion, with exports accounting for a quarter of this.
An export ban would see the meat currently being exported diverted to the domestic market, and the offals being exported going to rendering plants.
As a result, the value of pig meat products currently being exported would plummet from £310 million currently to about £110 million — a loss of £200 million.
"There would also be a knock-on effect on prices for other products in the United Kingdom market, given an increase in supply, so the net effect would be about £320 million," notes BPEX economist Stephen Howarth.