Page 264 of articles about markets-economics in Swine news

It is estimated that the conversion of 100,000 sows to loose sow housing will cost farmers close to €40m in total

Pork production totaled 1.85 billion pounds, up 5 percent from the previous year. Hog kill totaled 9.18 million head, up 3 percent from June 2008. The average live weight, at 269 pounds, was up 3 pounds.

Meat production in Russia will reach 550 thousand tonnes through the end of this year, according to Yelena Skrynnik, Russian Agricultural Minister.

The listeriosis outbreak in meat products in Canada during 2008, that killed 22 people and led to massive amounts of pork and other meat recalls, was the result of a 'void in leadership' within the federal Canadian government.

Pork exports have this year shrunk by 14% in comparison to 2008, the Dutch agricultural newspaper Agrarisch Dagblad reports.

The Commission has adopted today a regulation to allow known or emerging risks in feed and food of non-animal origin to be countered more effectively. This regulation requires Member States to step up controls on certain imports of feed and food of non-animal origin. Member States are required to designate points of entry, which comply with the minimum requirements laid down in the regulation (logistics, staff, access to appropriate laboratory capacity, etc) through which consignments must enter the territory of the EU. The enhanced control mechanism means systematic (100%) checks on documents accompanying the consignments, as well as physical checks, including laboratory analysis, at a frequency related to the risk identified. For the first time the regulation also lays down the list of products that are subject to these stepped-up controls. The imported products listed are products which merit an increased level of attention and control at borders on the basis of information from various sources (RASFF notifications, reports from the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), from Member States and from third countries).

Poultry and pork production will grow by 37.64% and 8.88%, respectively 2009-2013, although beef production will fall by 1.24%. The growth in poultry and pork production will be partly driven by domestic demand and should also lead to improved balances of trade.

The European Commission has approved 16 programmes in 12 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom) to provide information on and to promote agricultural products in the European Union.

A Brazilian delegation is negotiating to remove an embargo on beef and pork exports to South Africa. South Africa suspended beef and pork purchases from Brazil in 2005 after cases of foot-and-mouth disease were discovered in the states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana.

The country’s total live pig production for the first half of this year could reach 390.5 million, a 6% increase over the same period of last year.

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the US pharmaceutical and health care products company Wyeth by the US global pharmaceutical company Pfizer. The approval is conditional upon Pfizer's commitment to divest several types of animal health vaccines, pharmaceuticals and medicinal feed additives in the European Economic Area (EEA) or in specific Member States. The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have raised competition issues in the field of animal health products on a number of national markets. In the light of the commitments offered by Pfizer, the Commission has now concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the EEA or any substantial part of it.

Due to the decreasing production and increasing demand for pig meat in Poland, Polish imports of pig meat continue to rise. .

The decision affects Ontario pork products produced before May 15 and after July 18, 2009, and means that Russia no longer has any H1N1-related restrictions on Canadian products.

The second quarter of 2009 ended with both pork production and hog and pork prices below a year ago, which strongly suggests lower product demand. Lower production and lower prices are expected to persist for the balance of this year.

The Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development has published a comparative analysis of projections for agricultural commodity markets.

In the first three months of 2009, the sales of the Bulgarian meat industry registered an increase of 15.5% at current prices, according to the latest report from SFB Capital Market JSC.