October 10, 2022

EU pork output down on reduced slaughter

The EU produced 1.78 million tonnes and 1.66 million tonnes of pork in June and July respectively, a year-on-year decline of 5.7% for June and an 8.4% decline for July, the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board reported.

This brings the current projected output for EU27 swine to 12.95 million tonnes for year-to-date (January to July), its lowest level since 2017.

Only Spain has shown year-over-year growth for the six major producing countries thus far, and it is only 0.2%. Germany experienced the biggest year-over-year change in 2022, falling 10.1%. Significant declines were also observed in Poland and Denmark, down 9.2% and 4.0%, respectively. Each of France and the Netherlands experienced a 1.5% decline.

The decline in output was due to reduced slaughter. Estimated slaughter figures for June and July are 19.23 million head and 18.13 million head, respectively, representing declines of 5.2% and 7.8% compared to the same months last year.

The heatwaves that swept through Europe and the northern hemisphere during these two months are probably to blame for some of this decline. The estimated swine slaughter for the EU27 from January to July has reached 137.91 million head, the lowest kill in the previous five years.

-      UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board