The Russian ban on pork imports, in response to the discovery of African Swine Fever on EU territory, remains the major issue in the European mature pigs market.

Although the discovery – and ongoing Russian response – has caused major disruptions, prices for many producers remained level last week. German prices were unchanged from the previous week and in Spain, lower slaughter weights led to a balance of supply-demand, meaning prices there remained stable. The Netherlands and Austria also recorded steady prices.

According to German industry group ISN, the stable prices in central Europe are the result of "substandard quantities of pigs… on offer [which] are sufficient to prevent the [price] situation from worsening".

In France, prices even increased slightly, rising from €1.45 to €1.46. The rise this week follows a five cent slide in prices two weeks ago for French producers. However, in Belgium, the general rule didn’t hold true and producers faced a converted 4 cents' price decrease, meaning the Belgian quotation slipped below the Dutch to €1.37, the lowest in Europe.

The Danish quotation, too, has bombed after having held steady for several weeks. Over the past fortnight, prices in Denmark have slipped by 7 cents.

Following the erratic trend seen so far this year, the British quotation dropped off to €1.81/kg, having risen to €1.84 a week prior.

Following the discovery of ASF in the wild in Poland, word has it that trading has come to a standstill in the country. German pigs are no longer being delivered to Polish slaughterhouses. In eastern Germany in particular, it has therefore become necessary to find alternative markets for pigs that otherwise would have been transported across the border. However, so far, this does not appear to have had an impact on prices.

Russia – EU meetings over ASF

Last week, several meetings were held between Russian and EU authorities over the African Swine Fever outbreak. So far, the disease has only been found in wild boar in North Eastern EU states.

Sergey Dankwert, head of the Russian veterinary authorities, accused the EU of failing to take sufficient action to prevent further spread of the virus within the bloc. EU leaders have accused Russian authorities of reacting disproportionately to the discovery. ASF has affected Southern Russian states for several years.

Representatives from the Netherlands, Denmark and France all met Russian deputies last week, in the hope of brokering deals to restart exports from member states unaffected by African Swine Fever to Russia. EU authorities were critical of the meetings between Russian officials and representatives of individual EU states ISN said, "It seems that in the case of doubt each is for himself rather than for the community."