Piglet shortage does not put a brake on exports

Piglet flocks are scarce to extremely scarce all year round. The shortage has even pushed the market to record prices. What does this mean for the numbers that cross the border every week? Surprisingly, quite little. 

What is striking is that the piglet export figures for the first quarter (weeks 1 to 12) are even ahead of the same period last year. Despite the shortage, more piglets have crossed the border in exact numbers. This once again underlines that the shortage is related to the good demand in Europe. The high imposition urge can be seen as a signal that fattening pig farmers have confidence in the pig market. Symbolic of this is the DCA BestPigletPrice, which reached a record level of 59 euros per piglet in mid-May and also rose sharply in the first quarter.    

Germany on the market
A total of 1.491.872 piglets crossed the Dutch border. This is almost 30.000 more than last year. With over 1 million piglets, Germany is by far the largest buyer, followed by Belgium and Luxembourg. More than 195.000 piglets went here. Number three on the list is Spain with an import volume of almost 61.000 piglets. The growth comes mainly from Germany and Belgium and Luxembourg. The German demand is a logical consequence of the decline in the sow herd. 

Strong growth in Poland
What is striking is that Spain is less on the market. Exports to Spain stagnated by approximately 10 percent to 60.000. Italy, on the other hand, imported 25 percent more piglets to almost 49.000. The growing demand from Poland is particularly strong. Almost 50.000 more piglets went here to almost 78.000. Exports to Hungary and Romania remained more or less the same. Hungary imported almost 47.000 piglets from the Netherlands. The export counter to Romania just didn't reach 35.000 piglets. 

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Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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