Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The EU-spec SPP lost a further 0.41p to stand at 182.32p/kg during the week ended March 28, as the steady decline continues.
The SPP has now lost nearly 15p in 13 weeks of uninterrupted decline since the start of the year. It is now more than 22p below the same week last year and at its lowest point since June 2022.
The picture from Europe continues to improve. The latest Tribune roundup showed further improvement in the Spanish pig price, alongside a small reduction in the Netherlands and no movement elsewhere.
The EU grade S reference price reached a low of 126.21p/kg in the week ending February 1, but steady recovery since then, including a further 4p increase during the week ended March 22, has seen it rise to 143.85p/kg. With the UK price coning the other way, the gap between the UK and EU reference prices is closing rapidly, currently standing at 45.5p, compared with the all-time high of 70p in January.
AHDB’s estimated GB clean pig slaughterings stood at 170,725 during the week ended March 28 – 5,000 down on the previous week, 8,000 above year-earlier levels and 15,000 ahead of the 2024 figure, suggesting some progress is being made in addressing the backlog.
After five weeks of gradual decline, carcase weights have risen for the past two weeks, gaining 0.2kg to stand at 95.31kg, more than 4kg above year-earlier levels and not far off the record levels seen in January 2022.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on April 1 at £173/t for May, slightly down on last week, and £177/t for July.