– Mercolleida It also foresees a similar production, which this year has been a record
The slaughterhouses and producers that are part of the Mercolleida swine table estimate a price increase for the year 2017 of 2 to 5 percent higher than this year, in which the average price has been, in the case of the pig At 1.13 euros / kilo, slightly below 2015 (1.15 euros / kilo) and 2014 (1.22 euros / kilo), although in recent years the price of cereal was higher, Which means less profitability for producers. “It is a price that can be reasonable for the whole economy of the sector, if the price of cereal is stable,” says Juan Pedro Florido, representative of El Pozo Alimentación. Likewise, there is also an increase in piglets of between 3 and 4 euros per animal. Likewise, a similar production is expected with some slight increase to that of this year, in which record volumes have been reached in the pig in Catalonia.
Mercolleida has made a balance of 2016, which has been “a very hard year” for the pig, marked by “negotiations and a very competitive market with supply and demand,” said Joan Serra of Ganado Sierra y Martí. The year started with very low prices, below production costs, although from spring they started to pick up, thanks in large part to exports to China. In September, prices started again a cycle of fall that has been dragging during the last months, by the excess of state production as well as of the main European producers.
 |
| Several specimens of a Guissona pig farm Photo: ACN. |
The pig price in Mercolleida serves as reference for more than 90% of operations carried out in Spain and is the state reference for the rest of Europe.
Diversify
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Carlos Cabanas, recalled that Spain is the fourth largest producer in the world and the second in Europe of pig, with exports this year reaching 1.2 billion euros, reach 108 countries outside the EU and Will lead the sales abroad in the state agri-food sector. Cabanas has reiterated the need for the sector not to lower its guard on animal welfare issues in order to meet the increasing demands of consumers around health and welfare and thus opening up more markets.
In this regard, the head of the ministry has called for diversification of exports beyond China, which already account for half of the state’s pork exports to third countries, and bet on others such as Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, among much others. “We have to find all the possibilities because although China is very important, we have to plan from the sector to avoid situations like the Russian veto.” In this regard, Juan Pedro Florido has been convinced that next year will not reduce the state hog cabin thanks to the opening of Asian markets. “If Asia follows this line of opening, although there may be a slight increase in pork, it will be able to assume the price perfectly,” said the representative of El Pozo Alimentación.
David Mascort, Secretary General of the Department of Agriculture, has highlighted the “effort” of both producers and slaughterers to maintain “a strong and robust sector despite the market events of recent years.”
It has also advanced that, for the first time, Catalan agri-food exports will cover almost all imports, since the coverage ratio that relates these two magnitudes will be around 99.9 percent.
News published in El Punt Avui
