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German pork exports hit rock bottom due to foot and mouth disease

24 March 2025 - Redactie Boerenbusiness

The German pork sector has been shrinking for years. The volume of pork that German pig slaughterhouses export to countries outside the European Union is also decreasing accordingly. In January 2025, the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) at a farm with water buffalo gave the export position a new blow: the volume fell on a monthly basis to the lowest level since...

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German processors experienced their heyday on the export markets in the years 2016 to 2020. After that, the rapidly shrinking pig population in the country also quickly pushed down the export figures. The FMD outbreak near Berlin in mid-January has pushed the figures to historically low levels. The decreasing export dependency does reduce the influence on pricing.

Exports in January at 21.000 tons
German slaughterhouses exported almost 21.000 tonnes of pork products to countries outside the European Union, including the United Kingdom, this month, according to Eurostat figures. The latter country is one of the most important trading partners for meat sales outside the European Union, focusing in particular on the export of pigs that meet the conditions of the English supermarket chain Tesco.

The decline in German export figures is indicative of the development of the German pig sector. Various factors have caused the sector to increasingly focus on serving domestic demand and less on demand from buyers abroad.

Still an important factor
Although the export dependency of the German sector has decreased, it remains a factor that matters in pricing. German pork production has fluctuated around 350.000 tonnes per month over the past year. This means that 5% to 10% of German production is still sold in countries outside the European Union.

The German quotation for slaughter pigs dropped by €0,10 per kilogram of slaughter weight when the borders to several important export countries closed. However, the influence of German pricing on other countries seems to have decreased significantly. Since Germany has been struggling with export restrictions, Dutch quotations have taken a big step up.

Insiders in the German pig market say they are hopeful for the reopening of markets mid-April, 90 days after the FMD outbreak. The reopening of the markets could give a boost to pig prices, although the general expectation is that pig prices could take a clear step up before the reopening.

Development of German pork exports in January

Volume in tons

2025

20.811

2024

30.296

2023

26.103

2022

31.969

2021

50.368

2020

115.679

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