African swine fever has not yet affected the cost of German pork

German pork prices have not changed this week despite the discovery of African swine fever (ASF), the German livestock association VEZG said on Wednesday.

Prices remained the same as last week - 1.42 euros per kilogram of carcass weight, according to VEZG. A third case of ASF was confirmed over the weekend on farms in Brandenburg after the first detection on farms last week.

Previous cases have only been found in wild animals. There were 1267 cases of ASF in wild boars in the Brandenburg region. Brandenburg borders Poland, where the disease is widespread.

“I think the flat pork prices show that the discovery of ASF on German farms was not really a major market event,” said Tim Koch, MEAT analyst at German consultancy AMI.

"The farms were located in the eastern part of Brandenburg, where it had already been detected on a large scale in wildlife, so there were no significant changes in the restricted areas used to control the disease."

The disease has been found on small farms, and Brandenburg is not a major pig-producing area in Germany, he added.

“Pork exports from Germany to third countries, especially to CHINA and other major Asian buyers, have been stopped anyway, while exports inside the EU continue,” he said. “Thus, the picture of international trade has not changed, but negotiations with China to end import bans may be longer and more difficult.”

Many countries banned German pork imports in September 2020 after ASF was found in wild boars.

According to Koch, the domestic pork market in Germany is difficult due to lack of demand. Restaurants and large events that generate demand for meat are still not quite back to normal due to ongoing uncertainty about the increase in covid-19 cases .