ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK
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PREVIEW ▶▶▶ Plenty of reasons to be
Japan is well known globally as an important pork-importing country, but the country itself also has a strong and sustainable pig industry. Opportunities for future pig production will be explored during the first edition of the upcoming SwineTalks Web Conference, 7–8 October.
BY SATOSHI OTAKE, DVM, PHD, SWINE EXTENSION & CONSULTING, SHIBATA
The Japanese traditionally consume a lot of fish; however, this is decreasing year by year. Instead, the consumption of ani- mal protein from farm animals (except beef) is increasing (Figure 1). Pork is preferred and is an important part of the
J 60.0 50.0 23.9 40.0 30.0 20.0 10.0 12.9 0.0 All figures created by Swine Extension & Consulting, Inc. 6.5 13.8
apan is a tiny island, as can be seen on any world map, and as a consequence it has limited land availability. A total of 127 million people live on 380,000 km2 Japan currently has 9.5 million pigs and 850,000 sows.
. Still,
diet for Japanese consumers, but the self-sufficiency ratio of pork is only around 50% (Figure 2). Another aspect to note is the consolidation of Japan’s industry. Figure 3 clearly shows that Japanese swine production has been (and will be) con- solidating, as is happening in the EU and the US. These trends all create more opportunities for those who are willing to expand and adapt new business models in the Japanese swine industry in the future.
Strengths and weaknesses in Japan Pork production in Japan is highly profitable. The profitability is quite sustainable, too (Figure 4). Production costs (feed, la- bour, manure processing, etc.) are high in Japan (almost all grain for feed is imported); however, the advantage of a high pork price overcomes that disadvantage. The value of pork in Japan continues to be one of the highest in the world. In addition, it is not commonly known that Japanese swine production is fortunate to have a low cost of capital. The in- terest rate on borrowed capital is extremely low (0.25–0.3%), which means investors in the swine production business have very low risk of cash shortage. There is, however, a challenge for expansion with manure processing capacity and its costs.
Figure 1 - Animal protein consumption per capita in Japan. Pork Poultry Beef Fish, seafood
kg/year/capita 70.0
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▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 7, 2020
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