Meat imports and falling farmgate prices squeeze Bulgarian livestock producers
Bulgarian pig producers say live-animal prices have fallen below production costs as cheaper imported meat intensifies competition. Large farms are drawing on reserves, while smaller operators face a growing risk of leaving the market.
Farmgate price falls below production cost
Bulgarian livestock producers are facing mounting pressure from stronger meat imports and declining farmgate prices, even as consumers pay more at retail. The divergence threatens farm profitability and could force some producers out of the market, according to Bulgarian news outlet iNews.bg.
Svetoslav Shalamanov, executive director of a pig complex near Ruse, said live pigs currently sell for about €1.10, while his operation’s production cost is approximately €1.30 excluding value-added tax. That leaves a gap of €0.20 before VAT and means producers are selling below cost. Large complexes can continue operating by using accumulated reserves, he said, but smaller farms have far less capacity to absorb sustained losses.
Cheaper imports intensify competition
Shalamanov attributed the pressure partly to a lack of market safeguards, which allows cheaper imported products to compete with Bulgarian meat. He told Bulgarian National Television that processors should first purchase available domestic production and turn to imported meat afterward. In his view, relying indefinitely on imports would leave the country exposed if domestic farms disappear and local food production contracts.
The pressure is not limited to Bulgaria. Shalamanov said livestock producers across Europe are confronting similar difficulties and called for a change in European Union agricultural policy. He argued that food-production security should be treated as a strategic priority alongside military security, because access to affordable, high-quality food affects public health and the resilience of communities.
Producers seek minimum-price protection
Shalamanov said market forces alone cannot resolve the sector’s problems while farms remain subject to extensive regulation and taxation. He proposed a guaranteed minimum farmgate price for domestically produced livestock. Such an intervention would represent a significant policy shift, potentially protecting producers from sales below cost but also requiring governments and EU institutions to determine how a minimum price would be set, financed and enforced.
The sector is seeking more active support from both the Bulgarian government and European institutions. Shalamanov also called for a common regional strategy for livestock development in Eastern Europe. For producers, the immediate issue is cash flow: a selling price below production cost steadily erodes reserves. For processors and meat traders, any preference for domestic supply or minimum-price mechanism could change procurement costs and sourcing decisions. Consumers, meanwhile, are already paying higher shop prices, showing that lower returns at farm level are not necessarily being passed through to the retail market.
