This week: There is some movement in the export of animal by-products to China. The information policy of the responsible German authorities once again leaves more than a little to be desired, but as all the operators concerned are making great efforts in all areas, and there is also good cooperation in the matter, a picture often emerges before the authorities issue official information.

A solution now seems to be emerging for goods that have already arrived in China, provided that it can be proven that the goods left the country before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in January, which can be guaranteed in almost all cases. It may still be necessary to test the goods for the pathogen. It seems very likely that corresponding instructions will be issued by Beijing to port authorities at the beginning of April. More recent cases of FMD that have occurred in Hungary and Slovakia are of course not making the talks and negotiations any easier. We can only hope that the spread of the disease can be stopped quickly and that other countries and regions will not be affected.

Business has been rather quiet again this week. It seems that slaughter in Germany is unevenly distributed. While the north and west are still producing very good quantities, there are reports from the south that the kill is significantly lower. This naturally means that certain types of hides are not available in the planned quantities, while others are available in too large quantities. 

This affects precisely the hide types that are still in high demand, while the market for lighter cow hides is anything but easy at the moment. Of course, everyone involved is now trying to derive the best results for themselves. This in turn means that the correlations between the individual main prices are becoming less and less appropriate.

We are now waiting for new deals in Europe, which will have to be discussed again in the coming weeks. If the market in China and also in South Korea reopens in the next few weeks, this would take some pressure off the market and the detour of some hide types into the production of collagen could possibly turn around somewhat.

There has been little change in prices this week either; there were few deals to base price trends on.

The kill: As mentioned at the beginning, the kill was relatively normal in our region this week too. Just seasonally, the quantities should now be slowly decreasing. With the Easter holidays approaching in mid-April, farmers are also starting to think about how many cattle they want to put out to pasture again. The prices for cattle for slaughter and for calves remain very high. Per capita consumption of beef in Germany in 2024 has not changed, which is in stark contrast to the predictions of many.

What we expect: We are still not expecting any profound change in the market situation this week. The balancing of volumes and the situation regarding exports to Asia will be the determining factors for the coming weeks, which is why we must first wait and see how these two areas develop. Then everyone will have to come back to the table to negotiate and argue about the next set of prices and further developments.

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