Pig prices drop again

After last week’s relative stability, the EU-spec SPP lost more ground this week, falling nearly a penny to 137.87p/kg for the week ending 29 January. This price is back at the level last seen at the beginning of 2019.

Estimated slaughter was 190,500 head, 12,600 more than last week. However, carcase weights rose again to 95.80kg, 440g more than last week, by itself implying little progress is being made on the backlog. It is likely to take until Q2 for any real dent to be made into the backlog.

Better news came in the form of an announcement that an agreement had been reached on the supply of CO2, which “will enable CF Fertilisers’ Billingham plant to continue to operate while global gas prices remain high”.

The price of 7kg weaners was £32.72 in the week ending 29 January, around £1 lower than the week before. Those with weaners to move off farm are not immune from the effects of the backlog of clean pigs. Over 70,000 were reported to have been overdue for movement on 1 December.

The EU-spec APP stood at 144.51p/kg in the week ending 22 January, steady on the week before. The gap between the APP and the SPP therefore widened to 5.66p.

Read the latest AHDB outlook for the pig sector to find out what 2022 may hold for the pig sector.

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