Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The EU-spec SPP has stablised after recent losses, gaining 0.06p to stand at 176.45p/kg during the week ended October 31.
It had reached a new low for the year last week, and its lowest point since May 2022, having lost more than 4p in the space of three weeks, following a long period of stability. It remains more than 25p below the same week last year.
The SPP sample stood at 49,476 pigs, with notable price increases for smaller pigs, below 80kg deadweight, and relatively small reductions in other weight categories.
This recent decline in the average pig price comes at a time when large numbers of uncontracted are coming onto the market and EU prices are continuing to fall.
The latest Tribune EU price roundup shows a mixed picture, with a further 8 eurocents coming off the German base price, accompanied by substantial falls in Belgium and the Netherlands, where quote prices were already below £1/kg. However, Spain and France, which has been bucking the trend, saw welcome price increases. The German sow price was unchanged.
The headline UK-EU price gap continues to widen to close to record levels. The EU reference price (S-grade) lost a further 3p to stand at 131.41p/kg during the week ended October 25, meaning it has lost more than 17p in the space of six weeks. This increased the gap to the equivalent UK reference price nearly 54p, compared with 37p in mid-September.
AHDB’s estimated GB clean pig slaughterings had been trending below year-earlier levels during October. However, at 170,281 head, the estimated figure for the week ended October 31 was nearly 5,000 up on the previous week and 5,000 head up on the year-earlier figure.
Average carcase weights dropped back significantly, losing 1.07kg to stand at 92.94kg in the SPP sample, having gained more than 2kg over the previous five weeks. The average carcase weight is now slightly below year-earlier levels.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on November 4 at £191/t for November and £194/t for January, both slightly down on last week.