This past June, the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture published the sectorial data sheet of farms whose main economic activity came from pig production. (Categorized by their "Technical Economic Orientation" - OTE)

According to MAPA:

• Of the 53,105 farms registered in the REGA (General Register of Livestock Holdings), 17,060 fall into this OTE (32.12%). The largest number is found in Catalonia, followed by Extremadura and Andalusia (Figure. 1).
• The number of pigs on the farms under this OTE accounted for 90.6% of the total pig census, and it can therefore be concluded that it is one of the most specialized areas within the livestock sector (average of 79.1%), behind poultry and dairy cattle. The rest of the pig census is quite distributed over both other livestock and agricultural sectors, with the suckler cow OTE having the highest number of pigs (although it only represents 0.8% of the total census).
• The average size of the farms is relatively large, with about 420.07 livestock units/holding (about 1,600 sows). However, the range of variation between the autonomous communities is wide - from 1,791 and 1,208 LU/farm in Murcia and Castile la Mancha to 9.76 and 18.5 LU/farm in Asturias or Cantabria.

Beef, poultry, and pork products and by-products in the first half of the year brought total meat shipments to 440,800 tonnes, representing a 14 percent improvement compared to exports for the same period in 2019 which had totaled 385,213 tonnes.

Senasa (National Service of Agri-Food Health and Quality) officials certified exports of 18,483 tons of pork products and by-products sent between January and June of 2020, representing an improvement of 49% compared to the 12,336 tons sent in the same period in 2019. The main destinations were: China (9,379 tonnes); Hong Kong (2,599 t), Russia (1,845 t), Chile (1,400 t) and Angola (644 t).

During the first half of the year, the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina exported 243,800 tons of pork, with revenues of over US$545.8 million. These are the highest figures ever recorded by Santa Catarina since the beginning of the historical series in 1997.

During this period, Santa Catarina represented 56% of all pork exported by Brazil. From January to June, the state increased its exports by 20.6% and turnover increased 38.6% compared to the same period last year.

In May, Santa Catarina set a historical record for monthly pork exports and, even with a small drop, June saw results above expectations.

China continues to be the principal destination

China is the main international market for Santa Catarina's production, with 139,000 tons purchased, an increase of 87.2% compared to the first half of 2019. China is the destination for 60.4% of pork exports produced in Santa Catarina, generating US$329.9 million. In the first half of 2020, revenue from shipments to China increased by 110.8%.

Other important markets are Hong Kong, Chile, Japan and Singapore.