Difficult year for Brazilian pig farming due to high production costs

Difficult year for Brazilian pig farming due to high production costs and high domestic availability of pork (advance in production and retraction in exports). Pig farmers’ margins were negative for practically the entire year. The independent producer’s losses reached BRL 300 per head in the first half, as happened in Santa Catarina. Bankruptcy and withdrawal from the activity occurred, mainly amid independent farmers with a more fragile capital structure, those who were already indebted in 2021. The increase in production that took place in Brazil is the result of investments made during the period when China suffered from ASF and increased its imports. The most difficult period of 2022 was the first half, with a retraction in demand, both internal and external. Brazilian pork exports fell due to the retraction of purchases from China. There was, on the other hand, the expansion of sales to other destinations, such as the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, which helped but were not ...