BELGIUM: BELGIAN PIG FARMERS SUFFERING FROM A STRONG EURO HOPE G7 MEETING IN FLORIDA WILL HELP EASE THEIR FINANCES
Record ID:
646707
BELGIUM: BELGIAN PIG FARMERS SUFFERING FROM A STRONG EURO HOPE G7 MEETING IN FLORIDA WILL HELP EASE THEIR FINANCES
- Title: BELGIUM: BELGIAN PIG FARMERS SUFFERING FROM A STRONG EURO HOPE G7 MEETING IN FLORIDA WILL HELP EASE THEIR FINANCES
- Date: 27th January 2004
- Summary: (U7) WUUSTWEZEL, BELGIUM (RECENT - JANUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. CLOSE UP OF SOW IN PIGSTY 0.05 2. PAN/SV: PIGSTY SHOWING PIGLET AND SOWS (2 SHOTS) 0.20 3. CU: SOW IN PIGSTY 0.26 4. VARIOUS: PIG FARMER KOEN BERNAERTS ENTERING PIGSTY AND INSPECTING HIS PIGS (3 SHOTS) 0.49 5. PAN: SURROUNDING GRASSLANDS TO BERNAERTS' PIG FARM 0.58 6. (SOUNDBITE)(Dutch) BERNAERTS EXPLAINING HOW THE STRONG EURO COMES IN THE PICTURE: "Half of our production has to be exported outside Belgium. Our main export market is traditionally Germany. But with the strong Euro, Denmark is losing its market share in Asia, in Japan and Korea, to America. So Denmark is now selling its products in Germany too, the traditional export market of Belgium. Now we are competing each other in Germany. It is impossible with the strong Euro to compete with America so we're losing all our export markets in Asia to America." 1.33 7. CPAN DOWN: FEEDING DEVICE IN PIGSTY 1.42 8. SCU/CU: PIGLETS LOOKING TOWARDS CAMERA (2 SHOTS) 1.52 9. (SOUNDBITE)(Dutch) BERNAERTS EXPLAINING: "This situation does not have to last long. Most of the pig production companies have been in operation for 20 years and their loans have been paid off by now. They just about manage to break even. But all the other (newer) companies are making losses at the moment. If this situation drags on, it will inevitably lead to bankruptcies." 2.11 (U7) LEUVEN, BELGIUM (RECENT - JANUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 10. GRAPHICS ON DOCUMENT OF FARMER'S SYNDICATE "BOERENBOND" PULL OUT TO ROGER SAENEN (RIGHT) AND BERT BOHNEN (LEFT) FROM SYNDICATE "BOERENBOND" 2.22 11. CU: DOCUMENT 2.30 12. (SOUNDBITE)(Dutch) BOHNEN EXPLAINING THE PIGS CRISIS IN BELGIUM: "At this moment, we're in a situation of a relatively strong Euro. This makes exports outside Europe very difficult which is vital for this sector. I'm talking about exports to Russia, Japan and so on. Since pig exports have collapsed, there is pressure on the internal European consumer market. We're confronted with excess supply of pigs and are facing an enormous drop of prices." 3.02 (U7) ZEEBRUGGE, BELGIUM (FILE - JUNE 20, 2000) (REUTERS) 13. VARIOUS OF CONTAINERS AND TRUCKS AT THE ZEEBRUGGE PORT OF BELGIUM (5 SHOTS) 3.37 (U7) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FILE - DECEMBER 31, 2001) (REUTERS) 14. VARIOUS OF BANK EMPLOYEE COUNTING EURO NOTES (3 SHOTS) 3.40 15. VARIOUS OF EURO NOTES ON THE TABLE 4.04 (U7) WUUSTWEZEL, BELGIUM (RECENT - JANUARY 27, 2004) (REUTERS) 16. ZOOM IN: FARMER BERNAERTS HOLDING A PIG IN HIS ARMS 4.13 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th February 2004 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LEUVEN, WUUSTWEZEL, BRUSSELS AND ZEEBRUGGE, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Reuters ID: LVA2YRI0OA7UHZH2N4B1DYENEDHX
- Story Text: Belgium pig farmers suffering from strong Euro hope
G7 meeting in Florida on Friday will help ease finances.
Belgian pig farmer Koen Bernaerts doesn't like the
Euro. Not because it replaced the Belgian Franc, but
because the Euro became too strong. He hardly manages to
sell his pigs on the export market, where European pig meat
has to compete with dollar driven American meat. European
finance ministers are expected to bring up the issue at the
start of the G7 meeting in Florida on Friday (February 7).
The European Union (EU) pig meat sector faces a major
crisis. The Euro is very strong against the dollar, feed
prices are very high due to last summer's drought, consumer
demand for pork is low. These factors come on top of the
usual cyclical fluctuations, and they all contribute to the
extremely low prices in the sector.
In order to tackle these problems, EU Member States
gave a favourable opinion to a European Commission proposal
to reintroduce for a limited period export refunds for pig
carcasses and cuts.
The refund will be set at EUR 40/100kg and will be
valid for all third countries (except the 12 acceding and
candidate countries). The exports have to be carried out
before the end of April 2004. The Commission adopted a
proposal that entered into force on 27 January 2004.
When farmer Koen Bernaerts started his 1800 pig farm in
1990, breeding pigs was promoted as an escape route from
traditional milk farming. It wasn't an easy road to success
though. Swine fever, foot and mouth diseases threatened his
business at several occasions with failure. Slung treatment
which became obligatory as off 2000, further pruned away
profits.
"Nowadays, every pig farmer here in Flanders runs at
break-even, or worse, lose money every day. For those young
farmers who have to pay back their loans, it is a
catastrophe. It will inevitably lead to bankruptcies,"
Bernaerts says.
In this already fragile sector of animal breeding in
Europe, play international factors that are difficult to
control. Pig experts from the Belgian farmer's syndicate
Roger Saenen and Bert Bohnen explain the historical low
prices for pig meat in Europe by a unusual combination of
factors.
Summer droughts have increased maize and soya prices,
and these products are the basics of pigfeed. Newcomers on
the export markets, such as Brazil, do not have to take
into account environmental measures and can produce the
meat at much lower costs than in Europe.
Combine these assets with a low dollar, and it is easy
to understand that European pig meat can't compete any
longer on export markets in Asia. Or as Bert Bohnen from
the "Boerenbond" syndicate puts it:
"We're in a situation of a relatively strong Euro. This
makes exports outside Europe very difficult which is vital
for this sector."
A too strong Euro is not a good thing for Europe's
large economies such as France and Germany. They try to
halt the euro's recent surge, repeating they are extremely
worried about its volatility. France and Germany want to
discuss it at the G7 meeting.
Foreign exchange markets see a transatlantic struggle
developing over whether the Boca Raton meeting should try
to influence exchange rate movements. Without any action
taken, the rate of the euro against the dollar could
quickly reach a level where it becomes a big problem for
the European economy.
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