SPP continues to fall

By Bronwyn Magee

In the week ending 3 October, the GB EU-spec SPP stood at 158.23p/kg, falling on the week by 1.39p. This was the largest weekly decline since January 2018. All weight bands, except those under 59.9kg, fell in price.

Low prices across the continent continue to influence domestic prices. At the same time, the supply of pigs available for slaughter seems to be high. Weekly estimated slaughter stood at 204,100 head, up a substantial 9,700 head (5%) on the week before. This was also 13% above year earlier levels and the highest weekly kill estimate since last Christmas. However, note that the estimated kill numbers are subject to revision when Defra slaughter figures are released. The proportion of the total kill captured by the SPP sample can vary somewhat between months and it may be that our current estimates are on the high side.

Despite the apparently high kill level, market reports still suggest a backlog has developed due to processing constraints. With this in mind, large UK pig supplies in relation to the available capacity may also be having a downward influence on pig prices.

The average carcase weight stood at 86.85kg, up on the previous week by 0.47kg. Average carcase weights continue to stand high on the year, up a substantial 2.33kg when comparing the same week in 2019.

The 7kg weaner price increased marginally on the week, standing at £41.25/head, up by 33p. Unfortunately, the sample size was not robust enough to publish weaner prices for the 30kg category.

In the week ending 26 September, the GB EU-spec APP fell to 163.28p/kg, down by 0.58p on the previous week. Despite declining prices in recent weeks, prices remain 6.91p up when compared to the same week last year. Although the SPP fell in the same week, the APP fell more significantly, narrowing the gap between the two series to 3.66p.

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