Rabobank: Russian trade ban shaking up pork markets

• In its quarterly report on the global pork industry, Rabobank has stated that the Russian ban on pork from the EU, U.S., Canada, Australia and Norway is quickly changing the landscape for pork trade.
  Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research team says that, although the worst of the 2014 porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) virus outbreak is past, the industry faces another major challenge from the Russian import ban.
  Rabobank believes Brazil, which has seen a 30 percent per kilogram price surge, is the big winner in the ban. Meanwhile, the EU has seen prices drop by 9 percent with no sign of recovery.  Even taking into account the positive impact of declining feed costs on margins, it will be a disappointing year for the EU pork industry, says Rabobank.
  "As Russian markets will not open again until July next year, the wildcard next year will be the possible return of PEDv this winter, cutting back available hogs for slaughter in 2015," said Rabobank analyst Albert Vernooij.
  In other markets, a rebounding demand in China will support market recovery in upcoming quarters. With feed costs expected to be lower in 2015, Chinese hog producers expect to return to profitability.
  The Japanese pork market is doing well. Pork consumption in Japan is stable, despite a surge in imports and higher retail prices that resulted from the depreciation of the Yen against the U.S. dollar. High prices for competing proteins have also played a factor.

JSR partners with Croatian Agro-farmer

After five years of conversation and negotiation, JSR has partnered with Croatian pig producers Agro-farmer.
Agro-farmer is JSR's first Croatian agent, and JSR hopes this will open the door for further expansion in the region. "With Croatia likely to enter the EU in the next couple of years any period of increased prosperity will improve diets — pork is already very popular in Croatia," said Paul Anderson, international sales director for JSR. "This is an ideal opportunity for us to demonstrate the capability of JSR Genetics and the stock chosen will help Agro-farmer improve both pork quality and productivity throughout the region."
The new pig herd Agro-farmer gains will be housed in a new pig unit scheduled for completion in November 2010.

U.S. pork maintains high exports to Japan

U.S. pork sales in Japan totaled $1.54B in 2009, nearly matching the all-time value record of $1.545B set in 2008, according to the U.S. Meat Export Federation.
The number held despite a 15% global slump in the pork industry, a 1.5% decline in Japanese foodservice sales, and overall Japanese supermarket sales that were the lowest in 21 years, the federation reported. The United States now holds 46% of the imported pork market share in Japan (up steadily from 30% in 2004) and 72% of the chilled pork market.
“Because of its strong currency and financial stability, there has been a tendency to think of Japan as an oasis in the global economic downturn,” said Philip Seng, president and CEO of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. “But obviously when you’re facing tough economic conditions, it’s important to feature products that appeal to a wide range of consumers. The U.S. meat industry’s ability to deliver products of tremendous quality, value and versatility has been critical to the success we are seeing in Japan.”
Through the end of February, the federation is conducting winter retail promotions showcasing U.S. pork loin, belly and cellar trimmed butt as featured ingredients in traditional winter dishes, such as nabe (hot pot) and stewed-pork favorites kakuni and nibuta. Support for these promotions is provided by the Pork Checkoff and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program.