September 11, 2007

Australia's pork producers losing millions due to poor market conditions

Australia's embattled pork industry is losing US$3-4 million per week as a confluence of negative factors is creating the worst-ever market for Australian pig farmers, a spokesman for an Australian pig association said.

Droughts, record levels of imports into the country and the strong Australian dollar are all to blame, said Australian Pork Limited (APL) chief executive officer, Andrew Spencer.

However, the nail in the coffin would be the soaring prices of feed grains, he said.

While record levels of imports were displacing domestic pork, the strong Australian dollar has slowed pork exports to major export markets like Singapore, he said.