Market Morsel: Pork doesn’t boar

Market Morsel

Pork is an important meat. In the past three years, pork pricing has been one of the major drivers of the meat complex. It is important to consider pork when thinking about meat pricing.

This has been due to African Swine Fever(ASF) eliminating large parts of the Chinese (and wider Asian) pig herd.

The result was a Chinese protein gap of 25million tonnes in 2020. China turned on the vacuum and started soaking up protein sources around the world.

I thought it worthwhile to quickly summarise what is happening with pork pricing in some key markets.

China:

The Chinese pork price has fallen since the seasonal pre lunar new year rise. At present, though, pricing remains high compared to the pre-ASF levels.

Europe:

Europe is a major producer and exporter of pork. The price of weaners in Germany and the Netherlands fell throughout the second half of 2020. This was partly a result of ASF being detected in wild boars in Germany.

The result was a ban on exports from Germany to China. As we started 2021, pricing levels have improved and are now around the average for this time of year.

Conflict Register: Please note Andrew Whitelaw and Matt Dalgleish operate a commercial piggery in Victoria, Australia