The standard pig price (SPP) has dropped back after two consecutive weeks of “very welcome weekly price increases”, the National Pig Association (NPA) said.
The EU-spec SPP dropped back by 0.27p to 211.33p/kg during the week ended March 2. The NPA said this cancelled out a “big chunk” of the 0.46p gained over the previous fortnight.
“However, since the start to the year, the SPP has lost just 2.6p, representing a period of relative stability,” it said.
“It is, however, now just 1.6p ahead of the same week last year, when prices were still rising steadily.”
The all pig price (APP), which includes premium pigs, lost 0.29p/kg during the week ended February 24.
It now stands at 211.36p/kg, cancelling out the 0.3p gained the previous week. This left it 0.24p behind the SPP for the week.
Prices and slaughterings
EU prices have been rising significantly over the past few weeks, the NPA said.
The EU reference price gained a further 3p to reach 180.76p/kg during the week ended February 25, meaning it has increased by more than 9p in the space of three weeks.
The German reference price is up by more than 13p over the same period.
The gap to the UK reference price, which had grown to nearly 37p only a few weeks, has closed to 27p.
The EU reference price is likely to go higher after further price increases last week, the NPA said.
Estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended March 2 were 9,400 up on the previous week and 1,000 above the 2023 figure, at 158,006, but remained 10,000 down on the same week 2022.
Carcase weights remained high, with the average in the SPP sample rising to 91.18kg during the week ended March 3, 1.6kg up on the same week in 2023.
Cereal prices have moved back down and well below recent highs.
London feed wheat was quoted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on Wednesday at around £155/t for March, £5 down on last week, and £177/t for November 2024, also £5 down on last week.
