The National Pig Association (NPA) said the standard pig price is continuing to come down steadily while the all pig price moved up by a “big margin”.
The EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) fell by 0.4p to stand at 214.65p/kg during the week ended December 10.
After the previous week’s 0.94p drop, this was the tenth consecutive weekly reversal and means the SPP has lost 11p since mid-August and nearly 2p during December. It remains about 14p ahead of a year ago.
The all pig price (APP), which includes premium pigs, has been “more volatile” lately, the trade association for UK pig farmers said.
“It moved up by a big margin, 1.51p, to stand at 215.5p/kg, during the week ended December 9, bouncing back from the previous week’s loss of more than 2p,” it said.
“As a result, the APP moved ahead of the SPP by 0.45p, having spent most of the year since late May behind it, in a reversal of the usual relationship.”
Falling prices
The NPA said falling EU prices since the summer have been driving UK prices downwards, along with weakening domestic demand for pork.
“Having stabilised and even inched up during November, the EU reference price is falling again.
“It dropped back by a further 1.3p during the week ended December 10 to 182.71p/kg, following a similar reduction the previous week.
“This is from a high of 215p/kg in mid-July. The gap to the UK reference price has widened again to nearly 30p, significantly bigger than the single-figure gap seen for much of this year. Imports remain very competitive.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) November UK slaughtering figure showed a deficit of just under 5% on a year earlier, with the NPA suggesting that the gap is closing.
However, the NPA said, the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB) estimated GB slaughterings paint a “different picture”.
“The estimate was down by nearly 5,000 on the week to 171,759 head during the week ended December 16 – more than 40,000 below a year ago, following a deficit of more than 30,000 the previous week. These estimated figures are frequently subject to revision.
“Carcase weights continue to fall. After hitting the highest average this year in early November, at just over 91kg, average carcase weights dropped to 88.06kg during the week ended December 16, albeit just 0.15kg down on the previous week.
“The average was 1.3kg ahead of the equivalent week a year ago.”
London feed wheat was quoted by AHDB on Wednesday at around £184/tonne for January, unchanged on a week ago, but was £23 higher for November 2024.
