There was an improved intake in the number of pigs across local abattoirs countrywide, which saw over 4 100 pigs being slaughtered during March this year.

This marks a 7% increase on a month-to-month basis when compared to the 3846 heads slaughtered in February.

The slaughter rates of pigs generally recorded an upward trend during those months, with the highest slaughter rate of 4 307 recorded in January 2024, according to a market watch report by the Livestock and Livestock Products Board of Namibia (LLPBN). 

A total of 4 100 pigs were slaughtered at the Mariental and Halooli abattoirs in March, which is an increase of 12.64% on a year-to-year basis. Overall, pork marketing recorded a growth of 6.60% from February to March of this year.  

Meanwhile, pork offal was the largest imported product during January 2024, with over 300 tonnes being imported. Pork carcass imports reduced by 68% on a month-to-month basis, while cooked pork & uncooked processed pork reduced by 32% on the same month-to-month basis. Pork offal made up 54% of total pork imports for March, followed by cooked pork & uncooked processed pork, which accounted for 30% of total imports and pork carcasses, which took up 12% in March 2024.   The year-to-date total marketing of pigs is up by 9.1%, with a total of 8 153 pigs slaughtered. On the other hand, imports of pork weakened by 51.1% year-on-year, while local demand for pork products has generally been low due to uneconomical consumer prices.  

The price

As an attempt to mitigate the detrimental effects of the declining Red Meat Abattoir Association (RMAA) pork prices, which serve as the current benchmark price for calculating Namibia’s pork ceiling price, the pork ceiling price remains set at N$51.03/kg. 

The calculated pork ceiling price recorded an increase of 1.20% from the previous month of February by N$0.48/kg. South African pork prices similarly have increased from the N$31.40/kg recorded in February to N$31.81/kg in March. 

-ohembapu@nepc.com.na