ASF Spain: Catalan pig farmers face €63 million loss
As the number of ASF infected wild boar in Spain has grown to 85, pig farmers in the affected autonomous community Catalonia, already lost €63 million of income since the virus emerged there in November 2025.
No positive cases have been detected in any of the 57 pig farms located within a radius of 20 km of the infected area. All were found in the high risk zone located at about 15 km from Barcelona.
The losses of €63 million represent a 17% drop in turnover, the Catalan farmers’ union (Unió de Pagesos) told a press conference in Lleida.
In a press release, the union said, “Despite the absence of sick animals, however, the virus led to restrictions on the movement of 61,500 head (10% of the total in the province of Barcelona) and had a direct impact on exports, especially to China.”
China remained the main customer
In the first 9 months of 2025, China remained the main customer of the Spanish pig sector with a market share of 18.9% in volume and 12.3% in value. That represented 10% of all national pig production. Catalonia has remained the main pork exporting autonomous community in Spain, with 51.7% of exports in volume and 50.6% in value compared to the total, followed by Aragón (27% in volume and 23.3% in value).
As for pig prices, the price at the Mercolleida market followed a very similar evolution to that of other years, reaching €1.82/kg at the beginning of July. However, from the end of November and the declaration of the ASF outbreak, prices fell rapidly to stand at €1/kg at the turn of the year.
Pig producer margin calculations
Despite this downturn, the average price in Mercolleida for 2025 was €1.60/kg, 7.6% below the average of 2024. The union said that there was an 1.8% increase in production costs to €1.37/kg, and ended up with an economic margin for the sector of €0.22/kg, 40% less than in 2024.
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