Philippines' San Miguel to quit piggery business as transport curbs bite
08/02/2021 10:28
MANILA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Philippine conglomerate San Miguel
Corp SMC.PS said on Monday its food unit was getting out of
the piggery segment, as African swine fever outbreaks take a
toll on the industry.
San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc FB.PS will transfer its
hog inventory and farm facilities to small raisers, which it
said can operate the business at a lower cost and make it
sustainable.
San Miguel said its Monterey meat business, the country's
biggest, has found itself in a challenging situation due to a
ban on the transportation of pork and pork products from African
swine fever-hit provinces.
San Miguel's food segment posted a 4.3% annual drop in
revenue in the first nine months of 2020 to 96.7 billion pesos
($2 billion) as sales were set back partly by the African swine
fever outbreaks.
"We want to provide our local piggery businesses a chance to
thrive in these trying times, and encourage more smallholder
farmers to grow this industry locally and responsibly," San
Miguel President Ramon Ang said in a statement.
Philippine pork production was estimated to have dropped 20%
last year as the highly infectious disease prompted the culling
of more than 300,000 pigs, or about 3% of the hog population,
based on government data.
The resulting supply crunch pushed pork prices in the
capital region significantly higher, propelling inflation to a
two-year high in January, and prompting the government to
increase this year's import quota. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2KB03W
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty)
((enrico.delacruz@tr.com))