Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
The yo-yo effect continues. After gaining 1.25p last week, the EU-spec SPP has dropped back again, losing 1.12p to stand at 178.39p/kg during the week ended August 22.
The SPP is now at virtually the same level as it was in early May, following a series of weekly ups and downs. This may be partly down to some processors running alternative weekly killing patterns, according to people involved in the trade.
The price index is now nearly 30p below where it stood a year ago, on the back of an imbalance of supply and demand, compounded by low EU prices.
Following last week’s increases across the board, the latest Tribune roundup of EU prices showed further gains in France and Spain, with prices holding steady elsewhere. Currency movements have pushed EU prices up slightly in sterling terms.
The recent EU price gains have narrowed the gap between the headline UK and EU reference prices. The EU reference price (S-grade) was up by another 3p to 140.68p/kg during the week ended August 16, meaning it has gained more than 5p in a fortnight. As a result, the gap to the UK reference price has narrowed to 45p, compared with 49p in early August.
The latest Defra figures showed July UK clean pig slaughterings were up 5.8% on July 2025 at 909,000 head, with pigmeat production 5% higher at 83,000 tonnes. AHDB’s summary of the Defra figures show UK clean pig slaughterings over the first seven months of 2026 up 4.1% year on year.
The trend appears to be continuing in August. Estimated GB clean pig slaughterings, at 166,066 head during the week ended August 22 were 2,000 head up on the previous week and 7,000 head above the 2025 figure.
Average carcase weights recorded their biggest weekly increase since April, gaining 0.73kg to stand at 90.75kg in the SPP sample. Carcase weights are still nearly 5g below the recent April peak and 0.6kg above year-earlier levels.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on August 26 at around £210/t for November and £211 for January, £5 and £6 up on last week, respectively.