Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The UK pig price continues to fall, despite rising prices in Europe. The EU-spec SPP lost a further 1.71p, its biggest fall since the week ending January 3, to stand at 184.57p/kg during the week ended March 7.
The SPP lost 4p during February and has dropped by 12.6p since the start of the year. It is now more than 19p below the same week last year and at its lowest point since June 2022.
The picture from Europe has started to improve markedly in recent weeks. The latest Tribune EU market round-up on Monday showed notable price increases in Germany, including sows, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium for the third week in a row, alongside a more modest increase in Ireland.
Even before this latest boost, the headline UK-EU price gap has been closing. The EU reference price (Grade S) moved up by nearly 2p to 131.94p/kg during the week ended March 1, closing the gap to the equivalent UK reference price to 59p, dropping below 60p for the first time since mid-December.
AHDB’s estimated GB clean pig slaughterings were notably higher during the the week ended March 7, at 171,905 head – 6,400 up on the previous week, 6,500 above year-earlier levels and 12,000 ahead of the 2024 figure. These estimates, as always, are subject to revision.
Carcase weights, which have been at elevated levels for the whole of this year, dropped back slightly for the fourth successive week. Average weights in the SPP sample were 0.14kg lower to stand at 95.04kg, still 4kg above year-earlier levels and not far off the record level recorded in January 2022.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on March 4 at £166/t for March and £171/t for May, slightly up on last week.