This year, pork producers, meat processors and consumers alike note that pork prices are lower than a year earlier.
‘Thus, in the first three quarters of this year, the purchase price of slaughter pigs is almost a quarter lower than a year earlier - 58.4 UAH/kg versus 76.8 UAH/kg, respectively. However, lower purchase prices are only part of the ‘economic ticks’ in which industrial pig farms have found themselves this year, as we are simultaneously recording an increase in the cost of pork production,' commented analysts of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders.
‘If in the first half of the year the average cost per kilogram of live weight pork ranged from 41-45 UAH/kg, then according to preliminary estimates, in the third quarter the range increased to 48.5-52.7 UAH/kg. Therefore, while in January-June most enterprises covered the costs incurred in production, in the second half of the year even the most efficient ones are forced to work in the red,’ the AUPB explains.
Operators do not have positive expectations for the end of the year, because even with a gradual recovery in pork prices, feed prices continue to rise:
‘The average prices of the main feed ingredients in the third quarter were 30%-50% higher than in January-March, and at the end of the year they usually continue to rise, which is confirmed by this year's price dynamics in the market of grains, oilseeds and their products. In addition to rising feed costs (+20-30% on average in the first half of the year), other material costs are also rising, and companies are raising wages to retain staff. Such economic challenges traditionally trigger a ‘dropout’ of industry operators, which in the long run has a negative impact on pork production in the country,’ the industry association states.
The Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders is a non-profit, voluntary organisation founded by domestic pork producers. The main goals of the association are to represent and protect the rights and interests of the association's farms, promote the development and implementation of new technologies for efficient pork production, expand sales markets, and protect the domestic market.