EU '09 pig slaughter seen to decrease 2 percent

EU's total number of pigs slaughtered in 2009 is seen to be about 250 million, down 2 percent, according to a European Commission (EC) forecast.

In search for causes, the commission points to last year's high feed prices and the financial crisis.

In Germany, the number of slaughtering is expected to decrease by 1.8 percent to 53.8 million, followed by Spain with a decrease of 2.1 percent to 40.4 million, France with a decrease of 2.9 percent to 24.9 million, Denmark with a decrease of 0.6 percent to 20.6 million and the Netherlands with a decrease of 0.5 percent to 14.4 million.

In 2009, Czech slaughtering will be only slightly over 3 million, a 19.7 percent decrease. Romania, however, is the exception that proves the rule as in 2009, an increase is expected of 1.2 million slaughtering, a growth to 6.9 million which is mostly related to Smithfield's impulses.