How Disease is Hitting EU and US Pig Meat Markets

While the European Union and Russia are at loggerheads over the handling of the outbreaks of African swine fever and measures to control the disease, the US industry is suffering from the effects of porcine epidemic diarrhoea PEDv.

Uncertainty over the losses to the pig herd in the US has sent the futures market sky high.

However, economists in the US are uncertain that the soaring futures prices are actually warranted and according to Prof Chris Hurt from Purdue University they could be an overreaction.

The futures prices have risen by between $10 and $14 a hundredweight in the belief that the losses to the pig herd will bring a shortage of pork on the market in the spring and summer.

However, Prof Hurt said that at present the numbers coming to slaughter are on a similar level to last year and if the prices that are being quoted for the period up to August of $112 come about this could mean that there will be a drop on the number of pigs coming to slaughter of seven to 10 per cent.

In Europe, while Russia still remains closed to EU pigs, the Asian market is looking positive.

In discussions with the Polish Ambassador, Wojciech Zaj?czkowski, the head of the Russian Veterinary Authorities, Sergey Dankvert repeated his concerns over the way that the European Commission was implementing its biosecurity measures and said that they were not equivalent to those being taken in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Mr Dankvert said the spread of the disease in the wild boar population is very difficult to assess through traditional monitoring and the European Commission directive on combating animal diseases is economic and very far from the real problems of biosafety.

“Their proposed measures are not equivalent to the measures taken in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine,” he said.

“In these countries, pork only comes from areas not affected by outbreaks, and only from large enterprises with a high level of biological protection.”

He added that the veterinary service should monitor the entire production chain - from piglets up to the finished product.

He said that Poland had become “a hostage” to the European Commission’s underestimation of the risks.

Analysts in the EU believe that the market is only likely to open to the EU in countries away from the current black spots of Lithuania and Poland, so that the Russian market is likely to remain closed to Germany.