31/05/2006 
FIFA World Cup in Germany: Suitable for making prices increase? - A comment by ISN market expert Andreas Beckhove
On 9th June, the FIFA World Cup will finally be started in Munich by the opening game played between the German national team and Costa Rica. Apart from wanting to know whether or not the German team will be good enough with regard to sport skills, many pig feeders presently wonder whether at all - and if so to what extent - the FIFA World Cup will be influencing the pig prices’ developing.
Will collective barbecues make pig prices get higher and higher? Will enough barbecue sausages and neck be demanded by an expected one million visitors to allow pig prices to continue to go up considerably? Or would Germany’s probably increased demand for pork products be compensated for by the single European market, thus avoiding all kinds of price effects?
Taking a look back to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France might be helpful in this regard. Then, too, the EU pig market had been internationalised to such an extent that transporting pigs mature for slaughter was made possible to compensate for demand within the EU. Then, too, football fans from all over the world had come to the host country and had also asked for pork.
In what way did pig prices develop at that time?
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was held from 10th June to 12th July. When analysing price developments for that period (refer to diagram), one finds that prices in France clearly increased right at the beginning of the World Cup event. Official quotations went up by more than 12 percent in France from the beginning of June 1998. Now critics might say that June has always been a month during which pig prices tend to develop positively anyway. That is true, certainly. But when comparing the German and French quotations for June 1998, one clearly sees that quotations in Germany increased by just 4.5 percent during the same period.
It remains to be seen whether or not this way of price development may also be 100 percent applicable to the FIFA World Cup ahead in Germany. There is no doubt, however, about the fact that if a World Cup takes place in your own country, the pig market there is given fresh impetus. Even if countless fans from other EU member countries travel into Germany and the quantity of meat they consume here results in less demand in their own countries, a sports event such as the World Cup is inviting enough for the fans to arrange barbecues. As we say here in Germany:
In this spirit, let us wish our German national team a lot of success in playing football, and let us hope for all German pig feeders to face good prices and meet much appetite!
** Currywurst: a sausage served with curry-flavoured ketchup and curry powder
Will collective barbecues make pig prices get higher and higher? Will enough barbecue sausages and neck be demanded by an expected one million visitors to allow pig prices to continue to go up considerably? Or would Germany’s probably increased demand for pork products be compensated for by the single European market, thus avoiding all kinds of price effects?
Taking a look back to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France might be helpful in this regard. Then, too, the EU pig market had been internationalised to such an extent that transporting pigs mature for slaughter was made possible to compensate for demand within the EU. Then, too, football fans from all over the world had come to the host country and had also asked for pork.
In what way did pig prices develop at that time?
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was held from 10th June to 12th July. When analysing price developments for that period (refer to diagram), one finds that prices in France clearly increased right at the beginning of the World Cup event. Official quotations went up by more than 12 percent in France from the beginning of June 1998. Now critics might say that June has always been a month during which pig prices tend to develop positively anyway. That is true, certainly. But when comparing the German and French quotations for June 1998, one clearly sees that quotations in Germany increased by just 4.5 percent during the same period.
It remains to be seen whether or not this way of price development may also be 100 percent applicable to the FIFA World Cup ahead in Germany. There is no doubt, however, about the fact that if a World Cup takes place in your own country, the pig market there is given fresh impetus. Even if countless fans from other EU member countries travel into Germany and the quantity of meat they consume here results in less demand in their own countries, a sports event such as the World Cup is inviting enough for the fans to arrange barbecues. As we say here in Germany:
Football and barbecue go together as much as Currywurst ** and French fries do!
In this spirit, let us wish our German national team a lot of success in playing football, and let us hope for all German pig feeders to face good prices and meet much appetite!
** Currywurst: a sausage served with curry-flavoured ketchup and curry powder
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