Danish pork industry on the rise

"What we're seeing is that bird flu (in Asia) and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the United States are beginning to favourably affect demand,"​ Bent Claudi Lassen, chairman of Denmark's Bacon and Meat Council (DS), told Reuters.

Denmark exported 1.7 million tonnes of pig-meat last year, up five per cent from 2002. However, a stronger euro and Japanese yen meant the value of pig-meat exports fell by 1.4 billion Danish crowns to 24.4 billion Danish crowns (€3.2 billion).

However, crises within the global beef and poultry industries could help to bolster Denmark's - and Europe's - pork processing industry. Bird flu has ravaged poultry flocks in eight south east Asian countries, prompting a cull of fifty million birds. There is now a great deal of public concern over the safety of poultry meat, even though experts are reassuring consumers that properly cooked poultry is safe.

BSE could also have an effect on pork prices. The first US case of BSE, found in a dairy cow in Washington state on 23 December, resulted in numerous bans on US beef. Japan, the largest export market for US meat, immediately halted imports from the US and has now begun looking to Denmark to secure its supplies of meat.

And this month there are fears that Avian Influenza has hit the US. Preliminary testing indicates that a low pathogenic strain of the virus has been discovered in Delaware.

Russia, the single largest foreign market for US poultry, said Monday it was temporarily banning the import of most poultry products from Delaware. Bans on poultry from nearby states would be considered if bird flu is found outside the infected site, Russia's Veterinary Service said.

In response to the outbreak, confirmed by state officials just last Friday, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea have also banned US poultry imports, while Hong Kong banned the import of live birds and poultry from Delaware only.

The Danish pork industry is therefore in a position to increase its prices. Over the past 12 months, the industry has been affected by plunging prices brought on by the strength of the euro and Japanese yen, but the industry believes that this is about to change.

"We believe the turn-around in the pig market, that we had expected for the second half of this year, will now come within weeks,"​ said Lassen.On Monday, Danish best weight class slaughter pigs fetched 7.3 Danish crowns per kilo, up from a five-year low of 7.1 crowns by the end of last year. Lassen predicted that this would slowly rise towards 8 to 9 crowns per kilo.

Denmark's pig industry is of great importance to the national economy. Pig-meat accounts for around six per cent of Denmark's total exports, and every year 25 million pigs are slaughtered. This represents 10 per cent of total pork processing in the EU.

For a country with an area of 43,000 square kilometres (60 per cent of the size of Ireland) and a population of 5.3 million people, the pig industry plays an important role in society.