Hold tight – 2015 will be a rollercoaster!
The front page of the December issue of Whole Hog presents the key data from the USDA’s quarterly hog census (released 23 December). These numbers suggest that the global pig industry faces a boom and bust scenario in 2015. The impact of PEDv has created ideal conditions for supply shortages/price increases/production hikes in North America but Continue reading
PEDv drives a hog price rollercoaster – have we been here before?
The chart shown alongside shows how US hog prices have risen – and fallen – in response to the spread of PEDv. From late February onwards a mixture of fear and greed, mainly driven by market rumour, has driven hog prices up and up. Prices have moved up to be about 60-70% higher than at the same time last year and commentators are full of talk about “record highs”. Price shocks like this don’t happen often in national or global markets Continue reading
Will America’s PEDv stymie President Putin’s EU pork ban?
A month or so ago the Russian ban on imports of pork from the EU looked like it might hit Europe’s pig producers very hard indeed. Around 25% of the EU’s exports of pigmeat are destined for Russia in an average week so the sudden cessation of this trade on the pretext of finding African Swine Fever (ASF) in a few wild boars in Lithuania and Poland would be expected to have a very depressing effect on prices. And indeed this was the initial impact. But then Continue reading