Pig meat production at lowest volume for 6 years

The UK pork marketplace remains very tight with year to date production and slaughter figures for the first half of the year recording significant year on year declines. This is keeping pig prices supported but also causing significant disruption to the supply chain with the continued decline of specialist pig abattoirs one regrettable illustration.

In June the UK produced 74,700 tonnes of pig meat, according to Defra. This is a 7% decline in volume from May and down 11% compared to June 2022. The decline in production has been driven by reduced numbers of clean pigs slaughtered which stood at 813,700 head for the month, down 6% and 11% on the previous month and year respectively. Carcase weights also eased in June, down a further 400g, on top of a 700g decline in May, now sitting at 88.3kg.

For the year to date (Jan-Jun) this brings the total UK pig meat production to 457,100 tonnes, 13% behind volumes seen in the first half of last year and the lowest volume for the period since 2017. Again, this is predominantly driven by reduced slaughter, with clean pig kill for the first six months of the year standing at 4.95million head. This is an 11% decline on last year and the lowest number for the period since 2013.

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