Pig farmers are calling for greater assurances that border checks on meat coming in from the European Union (EU) are being conducted properly as the number of African Swine Fever cases reaches a 10-year high.

Owing to a fresh round of US sanctions, russian commodity exporters increasingly complain about difficulties in collecting payments for the goods delivered to Chinese customers. The issue doesn’t bode well with russia’s plans to boost pork exports to China in the 2nd half of 2024.

In the third decade of July, the decline in prices for slaughterhouse pigs continued, according to the results of the weekly monitoring of purchase prices by the analytical department of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders.

On 18 September, Uman will host the International Congress ‘Profitable Pig Production 2024’ - the main event for pig producers and professionals in Ukraine. The event will bring together experts from all over the world to share best practices, innovative solutions and discuss current industry issues.

China plans to implement measures to help dairy and beef producers limit production to prevent prices from falling further, Reuters reported, citing an agriculture official on Wednesday, adding to existing rules on pork producers as meat consumption declines.

In the first five months of this year, the EU member states exported less pork to third countries compared to the same period last year, according to a recent market report from German pig group ISN. Exports recorded a decline of around 2%. In contrast to most other EU countries, Germany was able to significantly expand its exports, reports the Agricultural Market Information Society (AMI) based on data from the EU Commission.

On 2 July, the European Commission authorised two genetically modified maize crops and renewed the authorisation for another genetically modified maize crop for food and animal feed, according to a news release from the Commission.

In Hesse, there have been two further outbreaks of African swine fever (ASF) in domestic pigs, according to a news release from German pig group ISN. This was announced by the Hessian Ministry of Agriculture this afternoon. Affected are two farms with 17 and 170 pigs, which are located in the southern district of Groß-Gerau and thus in the previously existing restriction zone in Hesse.

The recent outbreaks of African Swine Fever (ASF) in the states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate are not likely caused by a virus that migrated from east Germany, but from elsewhere in Europe. That was the result of a recent genome analysis.

Major global fast food restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is no longer serving pork at its restaurants in Canada. It is also switching all its chicken to halal, which is a category of meat that is slaughtered according to Muslim religious practices.

A 2nd pig farm has been infected with African Swine Fever (ASF) in the western German state Hesse, near Frankfurt am Main. This time the virus was found in a commercial finisher farm, having 1,100 pigs on-site.

With the pig industry facing numerous challenges, biosecurity is of particular importance. In Ukraine, personnel and transport have traditionally been critical points of disease spread. New educational videos from the AUPB and USDA will help pork producers implement best practices on their farms, which will help maintain animal health and ensure the sustainable development of the industry.

The heat is driving down pork prices: in mid-July, purchase prices for live pork decreased, according to analysts of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, based on the results of weekly monitoring of purchase prices.

China on Thursday named Danish Crown, as well as Dutch and Spanish pork firms as targets in an anti-dumping probe into European Union pork imports, as Beijing steps up pressure against the bloc's curbs on its electric vehicle exports, reported Reuters. 

Santa Catarina accounted for 56% of Brazil's pork export volume and 58% of the revenue in the first six months of this year.

The largest decline was in domestic pig production as the total number of pigs decreased by 10% to 4.7m animals.

With feed costs down more than 25% in the second quarter, Iowa State estimates wean-to-finish operations averaged profits of more than $20 per head for the period, a huge swing from losses of $40 per head a year earlier, according to the most recent CoBank Quarterly. Not only have falling feed costs played a pivotal role in improving producer profitability, but value at the meat case also appears to be helping pork disappearance. COVID-pandemic related savings are depleted and consumers are relying more heavily on credit, which is supportive of disappearance of budget-friendly meat options.

China's pork output in the second quarter shrank from a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, falling on an annual basis for a second consecutive quarter as weak demand amid a slowing economy limited slaughter rates, reported Reuters. 

Vietnam has culled 42,400 infected pigs so far this year.

Changes in market conditions and key indicators of the situation on the Ukrainian pork market were tracked by analysts of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders.