Pig feed costs soar
Soaring feed grain costs have begun to shrink the size of the EU’s pig herd and tightening in supplies should drive pork prices higher
Soaring feed grain costs have begun to shrink the size of the EU's pig herd and tightening in supplies should drive pork prices higher
Feed accounts for about 60 percent of the cost of raising a pig and prices have been climbing sharply since late June as a drought in Russia removed a key grain exporter from the market.
“Looking ahead, particularly with the Russia export door still shut, raw material prices are likely to stay high for some time,” Barney Kay, general manager of the Britain’s National Pig Association, a producer group, said.
Karsten Flemin, analyst for the Danish Meat Association, said some small, less profitable, producers were exiting the industry and it would be more difficult this time for the larger producers to expand to cover the shortfall. “There is a more difficult environment this time. We don’t have the same financial situation today with the same back-up from banks and credit,” he said.
