French slaughterhouses in crisis
Following the news that the AIM slaughterhouses had been placed into receivership this week, the association said that the Russian embargo last summer had contributed to the pressure on businesses, as the European market was flooded with meat.
Paul Roche, managing director of SNIV-SNCP, said the French pork industry had incurred losses of between €150m-€200m, following the ban on European pork imposed by Russia in January last year, as businesses could not replicate the volumes or prices they previously had for pork exports.
The association said the difficulties faced by AIM, which is hoping to find a buyer, echoed those of Breton GAD, which cut two-thirds of its workforce between 2013 and 2014.
SNIV-SNCP added that the concentration of abattoirs was an asset in terms of the transportation of cattle. However, falling prices and unfavourable market conditions – especially for pork – had caused problems for businesses.
It said the cheap labour used by Germany and Spain had also made it harder to compete. Roche said subcontractors were paid twice as much in France as in Germany. Meanwhile, the price cuts on pork seen in the supermarkets – to less than €2/kg had never been experienced by the industry before.
The association has just launched its statistical overview of pork businesses in 2014, and the Western Uniporc area slaughterhouses, which revealed that volumes fell for the sixth consecutive year, with 19 million pigs slaughtered – down 1.5%.
