pigmeat

Low population density and labour costs make big, efficient new units viable Spain tipped to become major supplier in the EU Spanish suppliers of pork and even of bacon have played minor but significant roles in the UK during the recurrent unstable trading conditions since the mid 1990s. Now the Irish are pointing to the potential impact of Spain becoming the biggest EU producer and processor. "Over the past 10 years the Spanish pig herd has expanded by more than a third from 17.5 million head to a forecast 23 million head by the end of this year, with further expansion expected for next year," Bord Bia points out. Spain always had a substantial pig sector, its output mostly absorbed by very high domestic consumption. Even today the home market soaks up about 85% of production. Bord Bia notes: "The growing significance of Spain as one of the major pigmeat producers can be explained by the environmental and health regulations impacting on the production practices of other competing northern EU member states." Regulatory constraints have already affected output in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, and recent expansion in Denmark has been due in part to producers anticipating tighter controls. Spain, on the other hand, is favoured by low population density and labour costs making big, efficient new production units viable, and obviously by its weather. Livestock disease is a recurrent problem for the Spanish industry, Classical Swine Fever in Catalonia the most recent instance. Cattle traders in Ireland have become acutely aware of Spanish beef feedlot operators as customers for store stock, so perhaps they reckon similar development of the pigmeat sector is inevitable. {{MEAT }}