GB pig prices drop back further

By Charlie Reeve

In the week ending 28 November, the EU-spec SPP dropped back by 1.87p to average 152.02p/kg. This now puts prices 7.52p below this time last year.

Estimated throughput is down on the previous week by 5,100 head to total 173,000 head. This is another very low throughput for the time of year, over 10,000 head below the 5-year average and 17,500 head less than last year. However, as we mentioned last week, it is possible that our slaughter estimates are on the low side at the moment, if slaughter of processor-owned pigs is being prioritised.

Issues at processing plants as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic are still believed to be influencing slaughter levels. There continue to be reports of a backlog as the number of pigs able to come forward outweighs processing capacity.

Carcase weights have remained high, averaging 88.06kg, up 380g on the previous week and 3.5kg on the previous year.

The EU-spec APP averaged 158.43p/kg for the week ending 21 November, a decrease of 0.23p on the previous week. The EU-spec APP is now 2.38p down on the same week in 2019. The gap between the SPP and APP has narrowed slightly to 4.54p.

7kg weaners averaged £39.56/head for the week ending 28 November, still up £2.11 on the five year-average but down 1p from the last published price of £39.57/head for the week ending 14 November. Unfortunately, we were unable to publish a price for 30kg weaners this week.

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