Half of Romania's pig farms could suspend operations in the short term
“Because of the situation in Spain, tested (i.e. ASF-free,Logos Press note ) Romanian pig farms are selling products at the lowest prices in the EU,” – digi24 quoted digi24 the chairman of the Romanian Pork Producers Association, Adrian Balaban. – A kilogram of pork from a farm now sells for about 4.5 RON/kg against its production cost of 6.57 RON/kg. Farmers cannot work at a loss indefinitely – this will inevitably lead to a decrease in production”.
In the most pessimistic scenario, pig farmers predict the suspension of production on half of Romania’s pig farms in the summer. The paradox is that Romania is a net importer of pork. And in the case of a reduction in its own production, the country’s dependence on imports will increase.
The situation is complicated by the fact that Romania has had a difficult epizootic situation with African swine fever for many years. This year, 24 localized outbreaks of this disease were recorded in the country. True, no industrial farms have been affected, but there are risks.
Situation in the pig sector in the Republic of Moldova
This year, the Moldovan association of pig breeders publicly publicly expressed deep concern about several detected cases of ASF in wild and domestic animals in villages in several Moldovan districts. Obviously, the problem looks serious in the context of the fact that last year the detection of African swine fever on two of the largest pig farms resulted in the destruction of more than a third of the country’s pigs in the industrial pig sector.
Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova reported that as of the beginning of 2026, compared to the situation a year earlier, the number of pigs in the country has decreased by 29.8%. That is, since the spring of last year, when there was a crisis in Moldova due to ASF, the industrial pig population has not recovered to the previous level.
In this context, it is worth mentioning that in the current year for import of pork in duty-free regime to Moldova were available whether the euro quota (6 thousand tons, already selected) and the quota under the agreement between Moldova and Great Britain (749 tons, not yet claimed).
