Inside Pigs
Pig sales stagnate due to closure of Westfleisch
Now that the German slaughterhouse Westfleisch is forced to close the location in Coesfeld, the pig supply in northwestern Europe is increasing, traders say. The location has a significant number of corona infections among the staff.
The Westfleisch slaughter site in Coesfeld (North Rhine Westphalia) in Germany has been hit by a large number of corona infections. The number of infections among the staff has now risen to more than 200 cases, the majority of which are migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria. The factory, with a total of about 1.200 employees, has been closed since late last week and will remain closed until May 18.
Shared accommodation for migrant workers is a possible cause of the high infection rates. There is therefore criticism from Germany of Westfleisch's approach, suggesting that insufficient safety measures have been taken by the slaughter plant.
Pig supply is piling up
Closing locations means that significantly fewer pigs can be slaughtered. Henk Kamerman of pig trader Schuttert says sales are stagnating. "Because there is no longer slaughter at those locations, the supply does increase somewhat. It could also be that factories remain closed for a while longer, so nothing is known about how long it will take."
Henk van Linde of Select Porc does not notice any direct consequences of the closed slaughter plants. "We do not do business with the factories in question. We could indirectly feel the consequences because other traders will offer pigs to the slaughterhouses with which we do trade, but we have not yet felt this."
Van Linde says that they can still reasonably sell their pigs to slaughterhouses. He does hear from colleagues that the situation there is more problematic.
Situation inside and outside Europe
Within Europe, the number of closed slaughterhouses due to corona infections is significantly lower than outside Europe. To date, several slaughterhouses have been closed in Germany. Elsewhere, infections have been detected at Lifera Meat in Spain and also at Vion in the Netherlands, but these locations are still operational.
Outside Europe, the number of closed slaughterhouses is much higher. The United States is by far the hardest hit, with more than 180 abattoirs struggling with coronavirus outbreaks among staff. According to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, there are now more than 10.000 infections linked to the meat processing industry.
In addition to the United States, Ireland, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom also have to contend with infections among employees of slaughterhouses. More than 20 locations have closed in recent weeks.
Chanti Oussoren
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
