The National Pig Association (NPA) has said the latest drop in the standard pig price has come as a “surprise”.
The EU-spec SPP dropped back by 1.23p during the week ended June 8, to stand at 210.16p/kg, while the all pig price (APP) also recorded a big loss.
The NPA said the surprise fall in the pig price was the biggest movement either way for the price index since mid-October.
It broke a “remarkably stable” run dating back to mid-January that has seen the SPP confined within a narrow band of less than 1p (210.67-211.61p/kg), the NPA said.
The SPP is now 3.7p below where it was at the start of the year and nearly 12p below a year ago.
The APP, which includes premium pigs, also recorded a big drop, falling by 2.65p during the week ended June 1 to stand at 211.06p/kg.
This wiped out the gains made over the previous three weeks, the NPA said and left it 0.33p behind the SPP for the week.
The large drops have been recorded despite the fact that EU prices are currently very stable and pig supplies appear to be tight.
The European reference price dropped back very slightly during the week ended June 2 to 188.15p/kg, with the gap to the equivalent UK reference price now just over 21p, a fairly typical difference.
Slaughterings and carcase weights
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board’s (AHDB’s) estimated GB slaughterings fell back by nearly 3,000 on the previous week to 148,187 during the week ended June 8.
That is a relatively low figure, which although broadly in line with last year when throughputs were starting to come down, was more than 31,000 below the 2022 figure for the week, the NPA said.
Average carcase weights dropped back slightly to 90.47kg in the SPP sample during the week ended June 9, nearly 2kg up on the same week in 2023.
London feed wheat has been volatile this week, quoted by AHDB on Wednesday (June 12) at just under £184/t for July, £9 down on last week, and £205/t for November 2024, also around £9 down on last week.
