Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The EU-spec SPP lost a further 1.48p to stand at 186.55p/kg during the week ended February 21, meaning the price index has lost nearly 4p over the first three weeks of February and nearly 11 during the course of 2026, so far.
It is currently standing more than 17p below the same week last year and is at its lowest point since June 2022.
The downward trend is driven by various factors, including plummeting EU prices. However, the picture from Europe has started to improve.
The latest Tribune EU market round-up on Monday showed significant increases in the influential German and Spanish markets with similar upticks in the Netherlands and Belgium. German cull sow prices were also up 5 eurocents.
Even before this latest boost, the EU reference price (Grade S) moved up by nearly a penny to 127.2p/kg during the week ended February 15, meaning the gap to the equivalent UK price continues to close very slowly. The difference stood at just below 65.5p, 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. Defra’s latest update shows UK clean pig slaughterings were down 3.1% on January 2025 at 872,000 head, while pigmeat production, 85,000 tonnes, was 0.1% higher than in January 2025 due to significantly higher carcase weights.
AHDB’s estimated GB clean pig slaughterings for the week ended February 21, at 169,191 head, were more than 7,000 head up on the previous week and more than 5,000 head above year-earlier levels, returning to the trend of much of this year.
Average carcase weights in the SPP sample dropped back fractionally to stand at 95.24kg, but they remain historically high, nearly 4kg 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 26 at £165/t for March and £168/t for May, around £2 up on last week.