February 9, 2007

Spain to see slow pork output

Spain produced 6.6 percent more pork meat in 2006, but the sector is expected to see a slow growth in 2007, according to a study.

Pork exports in 2006 probably equalled the record of 665,000 tonnes set in 2005, said Spanish agriculture minister Elena Espinosa while presenting the Excel Pork report. She pointed out to the growing domestic demand for pork and said prices paid to producers last year were 78 percent higher than a year earlier.

However, prices had fallen in the last few months, said Jose Antonio Herce, director, Foundation for Applied Economics.

Though Spain imports most of its grain, its meat production runs in surplus. It is the second largest pig farming country in the EU after Germany and home to 16 percent of EU pigs.