In 2023, the cured meats sector had to deal with the sharp increases in raw material prices, both domestic and foreign, and with the spread of African swine fever. The increase in cases in our country during the year not only weighed on exports to third countries due to the closure and strong limitations adopted by some non-EU countries, but also hindered the
recovery of pig production, squeezing meat supply and pushing prices up.
The increase in prices
The prices of the main national cuts of pork in 2023 showed increases of approximately +15% on average, while the average price of pork imports rose by +30.7%, according to what emerges from Assica’s 2023 annual report , the industrial association of meat and cured meats. The price of protected pigs weighing 152/160 kg on average for the year stood at €2.125/kg with an increase of 22.8% compared to the 2022 average, that of protected pigs weighing 160/176 kg rose to €2.185/ kg +22.1%. The prices of fresh pork cuts also saw a sharp increase. Compared to January 2023, in December the main cuts used by the industry recorded the following variations: shoulder (+19.5%), coppa (+14.3%), fresh legs for the production of typical raw hams (+4, 3%) and thighs intended for non-typical production (+0.6%); fresh bacon also increased sharply (+25.6%).
The unknowns in 2024
For the pork processing and processing sector, the issues of Psa, the availability of raw materials, the trend of costs and margins continue to be a crucial point also in 2024. «The production of pork, in fact, also in the first months of the current year it continued to show a decline and the prices of the raw material, despite some adjustments, remained high”, we read in the report. «The fight against PSA requires a fundamental change in the approach, given the insufficient results obtained so far – Lorenzo Beretta, president of Assica, declared in recent days -. Huge resources, appropriations and concrete programs are needed; we ask for operational certainties, not proclamations.”
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