Big pork price jump at beginning of June!
'The price increase comes on the back of an outbreak of African Swine Flu (ASF) – which is harmless to humans, but fatal to pigs'
Pig producers realised a more than 30 per cent increase in pork prices (in the last two weeks before 6 June) when prices went from R19kg to more than R25kg on the weekly Trigga Exchange online platform.
According to their official website, ‘Trigga is an online platform that lets buyers and sellers of agricultural commodities engage in a fluid marketplace, driven by fair exchange’.
Trigga Exchange’s Walter Frey said the price increase comes on the back of an outbreak of African Swine Flu (ASF) – which is harmless to humans, but fatal to pigs – in China, Mongolia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
“This resulted in up to a third of the pig population being culled, creating a global shortage of pork and the import parity of pork into South Africa.”
He added that, more specifically, and according to the Animal Production and Health division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, since the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) confirmed its first African Swine Flu outbreak in Liaoning province in August last year, 136 ASF outbreaks have been identified, resulting in 1 129 000 pigs being culled in an attempt to halt further spread of the disease.
“The Trigga Exchange online platform enables South African farmers to immediately respond to the effects of supply and demand, with import parity pricing being one of the drivers ensuring that local prices represent international pricing. The platform is the first of its kind, creating a more fluid and democratised market place that connects buyers and sellers of pork seamlessly for a fair exchange.
“While the take-up was initially slow, Trigga Exchange has gained significant momentum as a younger generation of farmers adopt the new technology. We have also continued to listen to industry players and have been open to revising the platform over the past two years. From a democratisation of the industry point of view, the model also allows emerging farmers to gain access to the market,” he said.
“In April alone, we sold 15 379 pigs on Trigga Exchange and currently have 33 active farmers and 36 active buyers on the platform. This online disruption – much like Uber – is dramatically changing the traditional way of marketing pigs,” he said.
“The latest disruption on the cards for Trigga Exchange is the introduction of forward contract selling of pigs, providing pig producers with a greater degree of certainty. Effectively, pig producers will now be able to forward sell and fix the selling price of pigs, just as they currently do with maize and soya.
“What we want to do is ensure that the price our platform realises is representative of a willing buyer/ willing seller of physical pigs. We want to provide a transparent marketplace where all buyers and all sellers can interact to determine a fair exchange,” added Frey.
