The EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) has moved up after being in decline for 16 consecutive weeks.
It moved up by 0.11p to 211.47p/kg during the week ended February, the National Pig Association (NPA) said.
This was only the second weekly rise since early August 2023 and means the SPP remains at just over 14p below the early-August high of 225.64p/kg.
The gap to the same week 12 months ago has narrowed to under 6.5p.
The all pig price (APP), which includes premium pigs, has been much more volatile since early December, but it has also stabilsed, the NPA said.
The APP fell by 0.01p to 211.67p/kg, during the week ended January 27.
“This meant it, again, moved fractionally ahead, by 0.31p, of the SPP for the week,” the NPA said.
“This encouraging pig price movement is happening despite falling EU prices. The EU reference dropped by a further 3p to 172.05p/kg during the week ended January 28, meaning it has now lost 11p during the first four weeks of 2024.
“The gap to UK reference price has grown to more than 36p, the biggest it has been for some time, making imports extremely competitive.”
The NPA said the upward pressure on UK pig prices appears to be coming from tight supplies as the “January lull” ends.
Slaughterings
Recent figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show UK pig slaughterings were down 17% year-on-year in December and that trend has continued in January.
Estimated GB slaughterings for the week ended February 3, at 153,650, were 3,000 up on the week but remained 8,000 below the 2023 figure for the week and 27,000 down on 2022.
Carcase weights cotinue to rise – the average in the SPP sample was up by another 0.27kg to 90.71kg during the week ended February 4, more than a kilo up on the same week in 2023.
Cereal prices continue to move in the right direction, the NPA said.
London feed wheat was quoted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) on Wednesday at around £168/t for March, £3 down on last week, and £190/t for November 2024, £3 down on last week.
