Pigmeat market report: Market may recover too late

Country of origin labelling across all poultry, pigmeat and sheep meat became mandatory yesterday, and IFA sources said it may slightly boost the pigmeat market.

Meanwhile, up to a week ago, 39,853 tonnes of pigmeat had been approved for private storage aid (mostly in Spain, Denmark, and Poland), further stabilising EU prices — and the third market factor is an expected fall in pig numbers this summer, due to farm fertility issues in 2014.

But IFA sources fear that better prices may not arrive in time to prevent an exodus from the pig sector, due to current low prices.