Ireland’s pig producers say that price increases in the last week in Germany and Denmark have not been repeated on the Irish market, claiming that factories are “refusing” to pass any price increases back to farmers.
Commenting that producers are becoming “increasingly frustrated” with the way they’re being treated by factories, Irish Farmers Association (IFA) pigs committee chairman, Pat O’Flaherty, said that positive price developments elsewhere in Europe had merely resulted in other countries “edging ahead of the Irish price”.
While German and Danish prices had both risen by 3c/kg (2p/kg) during the past week, he added, the only sign of positivity on the Irish market was a 6c/kg (4p/kg) lift in sow prices, resulting from strong demand from German processors.
“The IFA has therefore called a meeting for producers this week, inviting major stakeholders in the industry to address farmers,” he said, adding that Ireland was currently on 99% of the European average pig price.
Factory pig throughput in Republic of Ireland export plants for the week ending September 5, 2015 was 60,794 head, 2,588 less than in the corresponding week in 2014. Slaughtering’s in ROI export plants is running 6.9% ahead of the same period in 2014.