Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The EU-spec SPP has continued its steady decline, losing a further 1.55p to stand at 188.8p/kg during the week ended February 7, with slaughterings significantly up on previous weeks.
The SPP has now lost more than 9p since the end of 2025, dipping below the 190p-mark for the first time since July 2022. It is currently standing more than 14p below the same week last year.
The downward trend is driven by various factors, including plummeting EU prices. However, the latest Tribune EU market round-up shows prices virtually stood on across the board at the end of last week, bar a small drop in France.
The EU reference price (Grade S) dropped back by a further 0.55p to 126.56p/kg during the week ended February 1, meaning the gap to the equivalent UK price has dropped back to 68.7p, still around three times typical levels.
The domestic market has also been characterised in recent weeks by ample supplies and a growing pig backlog on farms.
The latest AHDB estimates suggest some progress may have been made in eating into the backlog. They showed GB clean pig slaughterings at 177,950 head during the week ended February 7, 8,50 head up on the previous week and 7,000 head above year-earlier levels.
Having come back slightly during the previous three weeks, the average carcase weight in the SPP sample inched up again by 0.29kg to stand at 95.4kg, 3.3kg above year-earlier levels and not far off the record level recorded at the height of the pig backlog in January 2022.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on February 4 at £164/t for March and £167/t for May, similar to last week.