Spanish pig exports recover from strong growth

In the first quarter, Spain exported a total of more than 620.000 tons of pork. Compared to the same period last year, this is an increase of 79%. This sharp increase is due to the Chinese purchasing need, in combination with the loss of German exports to China due to the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF).

Spain responded well to this and increased exports to fill in the missing German volumes on the Chinese market. Of the total Spanish export in Q1, no less than 80% (492.765 tons) was good for the Chinese market. Spain even became the main supplier for China. Besides China, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Great Britain were important sales destinations.

Portugal delivers significantly more
In order to be able to export more pork, Spain also increased imports considerably. For example, Portugal exported considerably more pig (meat) in the first quarter than last year. In total, live pig exports grew by 20,1% to 144.699 head. This concerns both slaughter pigs and piglets. Converted this equates to approximately 12.000 pieces per week. Pork exports to Spain also increased strongly with a reported growth of 39,3% in the first quarter. In total, just over 18.000 tons crossed the Spanish border. The value of total exports rose by 9,1% to €53,8 billion.

Significantly more Dutch piglets were also exported to Spain at the beginning of the year. Export levels have now fallen somewhat, but are still above the level of previous years.

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Abundance of pork
In the meantime, the market is reporting declining Chinese buying needs. China reports that domestic production is starting to recover and that there is therefore less need for imported meat. At the same time, however, ASF outbreaks are still being discovered, so the validity of this information remains unclear.

Despite this, China imports significantly less meat and Spain cannot maintain the record high export levels to China. This results in a large volume of pork which is 'left over' and ends up on the European market. Piglet exporters report that Spain pays considerably less for piglets due to the ample domestic availability. The extra Spanish volumes that are entering the market are also being felt on the European pig market. Despite this, the DCA Scholarship 2.0 was possible last Friday take a small step up, because barbecue temperatures give meat consumption a boost.