January 22, 2011
German pig prices collapse after dioxin alert
German pig prices have collapsed following the discovery of the toxic chemical dioxin in animal feed, which triggered international health alerts and also hit sales of German eggs.
German farmer's association, DBV, said prices had fallen by about 40% since the alert started on January 3, when German officials said feed tainted with the highly-poisonous dioxin had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs, poultry meat, and pork at the affected farms.
"The fall is so large that the future existence of some farms is threatened," a DVB spokesman said.
Traders said piglet prices had fallen between 20%-30% since the alert started depending on region. "We currently have major problems with low demand," one livestock trader said.
Germany's food industry association estimates pork sales have fallen around 10% since the alert started.
The German government said on Thursday (Jan 20) that low-interest loans will be made available to help farmers with financial liquidity problems following the alert, which the DBV estimates has cost farmers EUR100 million (US$135.3 million) because of falling prices and losses after farms were sealed off.
France, on Thursday, had called for special EU aid for the pork sector because of the impact of falling German prices and high feed costs.
The European animal feeds industry association, FEFAC, on Friday (Jan 21) also called for EU action to support the pig sector.
"The EU pig sector is facing a near market collapse," FEFAC President, Patrick Vanden Avenne, said. High feed grain prices were a major reason, he added.
"The current market crisis has been further exacerbated by the knock-on effects of the dioxin incident in Germany leading to a drastic fall in domestic consumption and temporary closure of some important export markets for German pigmeat."
FEFAC called on the EU to suspend import duties on grains to improve supply and also start intervention purchases of pig meat.
China, South Korea, and Hungary have already announced restrictions on German meat imports following the affair. Russia has expressed its concern and has been holding talks with German officials.
Dioxins are poisons formed by burning waste and through other industrial processes, which have been shown to contribute to increased cancer rates and to affect pregnant women.