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
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
The CEOs of pork processors and farmer organizations are fond of saying that there are big opportunities for pigmeat exporters to China. But do the numbers support this claim? No, they don’t Continue reading
It’s the World Cup and Brazil will be in the news this month as soccer players show off their skills. Brazil is famous for its soccer and its economy has grown in the last decade with its agriculture and agri-business pushed to perform at world class levels. But has Brazil’s pig industry been winning in the global market for pork exports and can it top the league of global pork exporters in the future? At first sight Continue reading
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
One British Prime Minister was once quoted as saying that, “a week is a long time in politics”. Right now it seems that a week is a very long time in the global pork trade….. Continue reading
The USDA has announced that it will support a new certification system for US livestock that guarantees that meat produced under this standard will never have been fed beta agonists (growth hormones) such as ractopamine. Companies can meet the requirements of the “Never Fed Beta Agonists” marketing claim under either a USDA Process Verified Program (PVP) or the USDA Quality System Assessment (QSA) Program. Beef and pigmeat and meat products derived from animals that comply Continue reading
The last two years – 2011 and 2012 – have been remarkable for US pork exporters. They worked hard and they supplied a quality product but, in crude terms, it was like selling central heating to Eskimos. They had a long list of plus factors on their side; Continue reading