UK: Pig companies go bust

British companies, DRS Pigs Ltd and MCB Sow Company Ltd, both went into administration yesterday having amassed debts of over Â£3m (€4m). The two main creditors are HSBC and ABN AMRO.

Together the companies have around 6,100 sows with 50,000 progeny, and 90 contract producers/finishers.

Contractors are unlikely to receive payment of the money owed to them. A buyer is being sourced for the pigs.

Grant Thornton of Leeds, the administrators appointed, will ensure there is feed for the pigs going forward.

Shock
According to the NPA , the news has rocked the UK pig industry. The crash is not believed to have come about as a result of the feed price crisis, but is connected with the value-adding company York Foods, which was associated with DRS from September 2006 to February 2007, and which was unprofitable.

One source is quoted as stating that even though feed prices did not directly lead to this event, "if the pig price was expected to rise by, say, 5p (€0.06) in the next few weeks, then a way forward could have been found by all the parties involved."

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Editor PigProgress