The Danish breeding herd and the number of market pigs is showing a general decline, according to the latest edition of Whole Hog.

In the January census, the total number of pigs in Denmark was 12.293 million, down by 4.5 per cent on the previous year.

The sow herd is down by 4.6 per cent and the number of sows to farrow is down by 5.9 per cent.

The Whole Hog says that the decline is due to high feed prices, new welfare regulations coming into force and a long period of low piglet and weaner prices.

In Poland, the breeding herd appears to be experiencing a double dip from the rise reported earlier in the year.

According to the Whole Hog the latest census figures show the breeding herd down by 2.6 per cent and the number of pregnant sows down by 4.5 per cent.

The number of slaughter pigs, however, rose by 6.1 per cent to 5.12 million head.

EU Pig Meat Trade Balance Looks Unbalanced

The latest figures from the EU's Pig Meat Management Committee show that the EU is the world's largest exporter of pig meat. However, the Whole Hog says that there are concerns about competition from other exporters.

The latest figures show that average export prices were up by about six per cent last year compared to a year before – before the dioxin scare in Germany.

The Whole Hog reports that following the discovery of dioxin-contaminated feed in Germany at the beginning of the year, the authorities have implemented an action plan and prices have bounced back, while the EU has introduced aid to private storage to deal with the temporary surplus of pig meat.

The Whole Hog's pig price cycle monitor shows that prices in Europe continued to increase – apart from in some localised areas hit by the dioxin affair.

The US market has been accelerating despite snow storms and the Canadian pig meat market has not been far behind.

The Whole Hog says it is bullish about prices over the coming six months.

Denmark and all the EU countries apart from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands have shown a rise in prices at the start of 2011.

In France, prices have moved up by 12 per cent and Spanish prices are up by 3.8 per cent.

Canada Export Growth Slows

The export figures for Canada for the majority of 2010 have shown that the pace of exports has slackened off.

While sales are up by 2.8 per cent, the first three quarters of the previous year saw sales rise by about four per cent.

In all, Canada sold over one million tonnes of pig meat in the first 11 months of 2010.

US pork exports received a boost at the end of last year. Up to the end of November, the figures show a 2.2 per cent increase in exports. with November sales up by 4.8 per cent compared to November 2009. The increase came in exports to Mexico and Canada, while exports to South Korea and Hong Kong fell.

While Australia has been experiencing floods, the figures for the pig sector are more positive. While imports increase by 6.3 per cent exports rose by 1.3 per cent on the back of an increase in domestic production of 2.8 per cent.

The latest trade figures from Japan show an increase in imports for the first 10 months of the year by 7.3 per cent. Denmark, the US and Canada still lead the way in the Japanese market.

The South Korean pig market has been rocked by the news of Foot and Mouth Disease in recent weeks, but the Whole Hog says that trade figures have been only marginally affected.

Apart from imports from Chile, imports from all the other major suppliers to South Korea are down.

February 2011