Estimated weekly pig slaughterings have hit a new low for the year, according to the National Pig Association (NPA), as the pig price continued its steady ascent.
The EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) increased by a further 1.26p last week to reach 216.74p/kg in the week ended April 8.
The NPA said the latest increase means the index has now risen for 13 consecutive weeks since the start of the year, gaining more than 16.5p in the process.
The SPP currently stands at just under 60p ahead of what it was a year ago, which was a time when pig prices were climbing rapidly, the NPA said.
Alistair Driver of the NPA said: “After the previous week’s rise of 1.44p, the APP, which includes premium pigs, was up by a relatively small 0.49p to 217.13p during the week ending April 1.
“The gap between the two price averages has narrowed to just over 1.6p, an historically small difference, seemingly reflecting a narrowing the gap between Red Tractor and outdoor-bred pigs.
“After slipping back very slightly the previous week, the EU reference price was up by 2.24p to 204.95p/kg during the week ended March 26. Prices were up in most key pig producing nations, except France, with Germany, France and Spain all above the 210p/kg mark.”
Driver said the gap between the EU and UK reference prices narrowed to less than 8p, still “well below typical levels”. In late January, the gap was nearly 30p.
“Feed wheat prices have dropped back slightly over the past few days and were quoted at around £190/tonne for May on April 12. Other costs, including soya and energy, remain high,” he said.
“AHDB estimates continue to show GB slaughtering levels massively below the numbers of 2022 and 2021. Estimated slaughterings during the week ended April 8, at just 145,511, were nearly 9,000 down on the week and the lowest recorded this year.
“The figure was also nearly 45,000 below 2022 levels and 41,000 below the 2021 figure, continuing to highlight the massive drop off in pig availability.”
Average carcase weights, which have been “steady all year” according to Driver, were up slightly to average 89.63kg in the SPP sample in the week ended April 8.
This was 3.5kg below the “backlog-driven” year earlier levels and 1.7kg above the more typical 2021 average for the week.
