June 18, 2009

Spain's pig herd numbers will likely fall one percent to two percent this year as a crisis forces restructuring in the EU's second-largest pork producer, according to a leading industry figure.

Spain's pig farmers are in their third year of crisis after rising grain costs abruptly halted growth in numbers, which had boomed by 40 percent in 10 years to 26 million.

Pig traders' association Ancoporc director Alberto Herranz predicted that some of Spain's less profitable pig farms would close in a the next five years.

Ancoporc estimates that 33 percent of Spanish pig farms on average raise less than than five head per year, and 25 percent less than 120 per year.

Spain slaughtered 41.3 million pigs last year and produced 3.48 million tonnes of pork, the second-highest numbers in the EU after Germany.

In the first quarter, Spain slaughtered 2.2 percent less pigs than in the first three months of 2008, but Herranz predicted numbers for 2009 as a whole would be steady over last year.

Despite the crisis, Spanish pork exports have boomed to 1.255 million tonnes last year from 666,000 in 2006, and Herranz said Spain saw opportunities in the huge Chinese market, while eyeing emerging competition from Brazil.

Just five percent of Spain's pork exports are cured meats, including acorn-fed hams, while at home they are an enormously popular delicacy lining the walls in many bars and restaurants.

The crisis in livestock farming has undercut consumption of animal feed and grain, of which Spain is a major importer as it cannot grow enough to meet its needs.