Pig production in Poland plunges deeper into crisis

Currently, the industry is not in the best shape, which is equally true for the breeding and processing segment, Ruzhansky said. He added that the country's pig population has fallen to its lowest level in decades and continues to decline. According to him, the key problem hindering the development of the industry is the lack of stability.

ASF is to blame African swine fever

(ASF) is largely to blame . ASF continues to rampage not only in Europe, but also in CHINA, sending shock waves through the world market. As a result, pig farms in Poland have been less profitable than before in the past few years, and some believe that their margins are in the red.

Ruzanski said 40,000 pig farmers in Poland cut their operations last year, a trend that will continue into 2023.

Farms continue to close

“Every day, on average, a dozen farms close. This problem is of particular concern to small-scale livestock farmers,” Ruzhansky said. “Problems in the breeding segment directly affect meatpacking plants and slaughterhouses, which find it difficult to find live pigs.”

Therefore, the Polish market has recently seen a jump in prices for live pigs. Ruzhansky acknowledged that this is undoubtedly good for pig producers, but in the long run such price fluctuations do more harm than good.

“The pig industry needs price stabilization, which depends on the stabilization of world markets. However, it remains to be seen whether we can count on this, because we are seeing a decrease in the number of pig farms in China and Europe. In addition, Denmark is taking steps to limit the EXPORT of piglets to European countries. It could also be detrimental to the tribal segment, especially in Poland,” Ruzhansky explained.

Lack of predictability

Speaking about the outlook for the next few months, Ruzanski warned that it will be “difficult, full of challenges, and at the same time there may be many threats that we still do not know about. Unfortunately, the situation in Ukraine does not contribute to the correct assessment of the market.”