The EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) has dropped back again to more than cancel out the previous week’s 0.38p gain, the National Pig Association (NPA) said.
The SPP dropped back by 0.47p to stand at 209.42p/kg during the week ended July 20.
The fall continues the recent sequence of SPP increases followed by larger drops, the NPA said, meaning the price index has lost 2p since the beginning of June and 3p since the beginning of the year.
It is now 15.6p below a year ago when the price index was nearing its peak.
The all pig price (APP), which includes premium pigs, lost 0.6p during the week ended July 13 to stand at 212.28p/kg, after gains of 0.46p over the previous three weeks.
This left it 2.86p ahead of the SPP for the week.
The European reference price (grade E) fell by another 3p during the week ended July 14 to stand at 181.66p/kg, expanding the gap to the equivalent UK reference price to nearly 28p, the biggest gap for some time.
The NPA said this was mainly on the back of reductions in Germany, Spain and Poland.
Slaughterings and feed wheat
Estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended July 13 were up by nearly 10,000 on the previous week to 156,615 head, just 800 down on last year, but 33,000 below the 2022 figure.
However, the NPA said these figures remain very much subject to revision amid ongoing uncertainty over the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) UK figures.
Average carcase weights increased fell by nearly 0.6kg to 90.23kg in the SPP sample during the week ended July 20, 1.3kg higher than the same week in 2023.
London feed wheat futures was quoted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on July 17 at £195.50/t for November 2024, £4 up on the week.
