An official statement by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MARA) in the third week of January is translated as, “The price of pork Continue reading
Pig production in the UK has a long history but the stats suggest that the sector has shrunk significantly in the last two decades and it now provides only about half of the country’s pigmeat needs. Farmers have blamed the industry’s loss of competitiveness on: disease outbreaks, high feed prices, environmental regulations, the multiple retailers, and, Continue reading
In July this year I wrote about the, “straws in the wind” that China’s March/April trade figures might represent. I also introduced a new concept – the idea Continue reading
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have provided all the pictures and stories that the newscasts and newspaper columns could ever want in recent weeks. Understandably, the focus has been on the here and now. The US hog and pork industry has not been severely affected by Hurricane Irma but, at the time of writing, it remains to be seen if the tropical storm will affect facilities in North Carolina. In this Blog, however, I want to raise issues that go beyond the immediate impact of this extraordinary hurricane season. In particular, I want to draw attention to a “perfect storm” that Continue reading
The two charts reproduced in this Blog are not comfortable viewing for Western pigmeat exporters. Certainly, if the patterns shown here are repeated over the summer then Continue reading
In July this year the Rabobank published its view of where global pork prices were going in the second half of 2015. It was entitled, “China’s Shrinking Hog Herd to Ignite Global Pork Trade” and it centred on the apparently huge reduction in the Chinese pig breeding herd. From this observed “fact” Rabobank predicted that Continue reading
If you have been on holiday this week on a sun-kissed, internet-free tropical island you may not have noticed that the news coming out of China has not been good. Indeed, it has been a wake up call for those observers who have not paid close attention to the various statistics that the Chinese economy offers as a measure of its activity. There may be some lessons in this for the global pig industry. Continue reading
The US hog price has behaved like the proverbial dead cat in the last few months. It was falling and then it bounced – and now it’s back on the floor, twitching. I fear this may portend a very weak global hog price in the autumn. Indeed, we may finally get “hogmageddon”. This contrasts with Continue reading
You may have heard the old joke about the American tourist who asked a local Irishman how he should get to Dublin and the Irishman replied, “It depends on where you start from.” That doesn’t sound too helpful but, of course, it is a very precise response – and true. Sometimes I feel like that Irishman when I am asked, Continue reading
January’s issue of Whole Hog Brief covers a range of subjects including: German hog numbers, exchange rate changes, weakening pig prices in the EU, North America and China, and the faltering export performance of US and Canadian packers but there is one issue that I want to highlight here Continue reading