March 31, 2022

Philippines swine inventory 4.5% lower in January 2022

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed the country's swine inventory continued to decline at the beginning of this year as output dropped in the final quarter of 2021, The Philippine Star reported.

The PSA said the Philippines' swine inventory was at 9.49 million heads on January 1, 2022, 4.5% lower compared to the 9.94 million heads year-on-year.

This was a lower decline compared to the 12.4% decrease to 9.87 million heads one quarter prior.

The PSA said backyard farms swine population dropped 7%, while hogs in commercial farms were up 1.9%.

70.6% of the total country's swine population are raised in backyard farms, while 29.4% come from commercial farms.

The biggest swine population in the Philippines is in the Western Visayas region at 1.15 million heads. This is followed by Central Visayas with 1.14 million heads and Northern Mindanao with 1.02 million heads. These three regions combined total 34.9% of the Philippines total swine inventory.

The total swine population was projected to hit 450,216 metric tonnes in the fourth quarter of 2021, 12.6% lower compared to the 515,051 metric tonnes liveweight output in the same quarter year-on-year.

The top swine producing region in the country was Northern Mindanao with a liveweight production of 62,032 metric tonnes, followed by Western Visayas with 53,195 metric tonnes and Calabarzon with 51,421 metric tonnes.

The country's average farmgate swine prices upgraded for slaughter was PHP 152.43 (~US$2.93; PHP 10 = US$0.19) per kg liveweight. This was 21.4% up compared to 2021's year's same quarter average farmgate price of P125.60 (~US$2.42) per kg.

-      The Philippine Star