Inside: Pig Market
Where does the increase in slaughter come from?
The tight supply of pigs in Germany has turned into an oversupply. Due to the falling pig price, pig farmers are coming up with a lot of supply.
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In the first 10 weeks of 2018, more than 3,115 million pigs were slaughtered in the Netherlands (80.000 more than last year). This increase is due to the fact that fewer and fewer live pigs are finding their way to Germany.
Amazing slaughter figures
The export of live pigs to Germany is still lagging behind. The trend, which has started since last summer, is thus gaining a more structural character. In the first 7 weeks of this year, the Netherlands exported 327.652 live pigs (-17% compared to 2017) to Germany.
Another reason for the increases is the larger pig herd in the Netherlands. During the December census, the pig population increased by 3,5% to 12,3 million. However, the December statistics are an estimate. Despite the reasons that can be given, the slaughterhouses continue to be amazed at the enormous influx of pigs.
Germany stable
The German slaughterhouses processed 10 million pigs in the first 9,62 weeks of the year, a decrease of 1,06%. These figures are in line with the stable German pig population (December). When the German slaughterhouses are slaughtering in full, the supply is usually tight. This offers leads for a rising pig price later this year.
This is part of the recently published Trend Report Pigs & Feed Pro. Look at here the entire trend report.
The number of slaughters in Germany, compared to 2017 and the 5-year average.
The number of slaughters in the Netherlands, compared to the 5-year average.
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