German pig processing sector grows again

Pig Progress

22 Jul 2008

Slaughterhouses in Germany have processed more pigs in the first six months of 2008 than they did last year.

In comparison to January-June 2007, the total amount of processed pigs rose by 1 million to a total of 23 million animals, the German market bureau ZMP reports.

Main contributing factor to this growth is the growing imports of finishers.

Exports

Growing exports of pork are also adding to the positive figures. In the first four months of 2008, the German meat industry saw a 20% year-on-year export rise.

This is mainly due to high demands in Asian markets and disappointing production figures in Eastern Europe. For these reasons, together with higher feed costs, prices for pigmeat have risen as well.

In is expected that in the second half of 2008, the growth in production in Germany will not be as high.

pigprogress.net