Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The pig price continues to head in the right direction, with EU-spec SPP gaining a further 0.16p during the week ended March 22 to stand at 204.36p/kg.
After rising by 1.07p over the past three weeks, the SPP is now less than 2p below where it started the year. It remains about 7p below the same week in 2024.
AHDB has now confirmed that it is stopping the All-Pig Price (APP), following the merger of three pig marketing groups to form the United Pig Cooperative, which means the data provided no longer meets the validation and publication thresholds. Consultation with the industry on alternative data sources to the APP continues.
The UK pig price has been boosted by some welcome upward movements in European pig prices in recent weeks.Last week saw further notable gains in Spain and Belgium, with prices stable elsewhere.
The impact of rising EU prices of late is now firmly being reflected in the EU reference price. An increase of 3p in the EU reference price (S-grade) to just over 161p/kg during the week ended March 16, narrowed the gap to the equivalent UK price to 44.4p. In early February, it stood at a record 50p.
AHDB’s estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended March 22, 162,134 head, was 3,000 up on the previous week and 4,500 above 2024 levels and nearly 7,000 above the 2023 figure.
Average carcase weights moved up again, by 0.26kg to 91.26kg in the SPP sample in the week ended March 22, slightly above year-earlier levels.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on March 26 at just under £169/t for May, £5 down on last week, and £177/t for July.