The provision of private storage aid for EU pigmeat opens for business today (Monday) in a move which the European Commission (EC) says “tends to help prices pick up”, based on previous experience.
According to standard market support measures, the EC will pay for part of the cost of storing pigmeat for 3-5 months, following a persistent campaign by industry leaders across Europe to secure support for the pigmeat sector.
“Past experience has shown that this move to temporarily reduce supply on the EU market, eases market pressure and thus tends to help prices pick up,” commented the EC as part of its announcement of the scheme formal introduction.
Any traders who are interested in accessing storage aid funds must make their requests via their member country authority.
Industry watchers have been cautious, to date, in assessing the potential impact of the storage package with BPEX reporting in its latest export bulletin, for example, that no interest is being shown in private storage in the Netherlands.Â
“The main processors Van Rooi, Compaxo and Vion feel that there is little headway for profit in the scheme that ‘is coming too late’,” said BPEX.
However, Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, commented that while it was hard to assess what the impact on the market will be, “any reduction in the amount of pigmeat on the market is likely to give support to prices across the EU”.