New EU states offer pigmeat boost

The newest EU member states will have a higher import requirement in future, as demand for pigmeat is growing faster than domestic production.


Bulgarian pig numbers stand at around 1 million head, whereas in Romania, pig stocks stand around the 5 million mark – approximately as much as in the UK.

Shortfall

However, there is a large shortfall between the amount of pigmeat available to processors and their overall capacity.


Furthermore, the domestic processing industry is growing by around 10% annually. With the increased demand from industry and rising meat consumption, domestic production is completely unable to keep pace.


As a result, Romania needs to import a large amount of pigmeat and in 2005 alone, pigmeat imports rose by over 50% year-on-year.

Largest exporter

Germany was the largest exporter of pigmeat to Romania, with a market share over 20%. In addition, Canada, the US and France all shipped between 11% and 15% apiece.


Boneless pigmeat made up the bulk of German exports to Romania and this is likely remain an important market in the future, ZMP reported.


Related websites:
• ZMP (in German)
• European Union


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