Asian Markets: Where Challenge Meets Opportunity

“A big part of these markets are backyard or small scale farms that are independent and unstructured,” said Hugo Six, General Manager Swine - East & Southeast Asia for Hendrix Genetics. “At the same time, about 50 per cent of the production is organized and often vertically integrated, which is a rapidly growing model.”

Thanks to the dense pig populations in the region and the lack of structure in many areas, pig health is a constant concern. Though African Swine Fever is the latest disease wreaking havoc, it’s by no means the only one. Classical swine fever, PRRS, PED and FMD have a presence, and that relentless health pressure is a limiting factor for the industry. At the same time, there’s an upside for companies with world class biosecurity that can avoid those viral contaminations.

“We’ve seen in the past that a large disease outbreak will favor the organized sector and prompt it to grow faster, taking market share from the backyard segment in the process,” said Hugo Six. “China has culled between 30% and 50% of their sow herd, meaning that 20% of the world’s sow population has disappeared. The lack of supply will drive pork prices sky high for the next few years, so our highly coordinated clients with strong biosecurity can’t help but succeed.”

Speaking of success, Hypor is well positioned to achieve it in East and Southeast Asia.

“Our entire operation is geared towards addressing the needs of vertically integrated companies, delivering value through genetic progress and offering solutions to every link in the value chain. That philosophy fits well with the accelerated concentration that we find in Asia today.”

For Hypor - active in East and Southeast Asia for 15 years now - success stems from a powerful combination of the Hypor Dam and Sire lines. Together, they offer high impact through genetic progress, benefiting both producers and consumers in the Asian region.

In Japan and South Korea, Hypor is the market leader with 11% market share in dam and sire lines. As an example, more than 30,000 Libra* sows were distributed in South Korea last year, and the Libra* sow is now being embraced by large integrations who have tested the sow in Southeast Asian markets.

“The Libra* is an F1 cross obtained from Hypor Large White and Hypor Landrace pure lines. It is selected for its mothering traits (such as milk and colostrum quality), proven resilience and ease of management that requires minimal labor. Our customers can expect to wean over 14 very uniforms piglets per litter on average. Thanks to the vitality of Hypor offspring, those piglets will produce full value hogs that need fewer antibiotics. Even in a challenging environment, some pig integrations in South-East Asia are currently weaning close to 30 piglets per year with the Libra*.”

The Asian markets are largely favoring Duroc male lines, for which Hypor offers a unique segmented product with the Hypor Magnus and the Hypor Kanto, both pure line Durocs.

The Hypor Magnus fits the need for final products that feature strong conformation with high muscle percentage, produced in the most economical way possible. Magnus has excellent feed efficiency and this boar is a perfect fit for the needs of Southeast Asian markets such as Vietnam and the Philippines, where it is outperforming other Durocs in its class.

“We are the only breeding company on the planet offering a product like Hypor Kanto that combines unmatched average daily gain (ADG) and greatly improved meat quality that includes marbling, color, texture and taste.”

“Rapid growth” may describe the Kanto, but it also applies to Hypor, its clients and its presence in the East and Southeast Asian markets.