Pig prices have reached a new record high, with the SPP gaining 1.65p to edge closer to 202p per kilo.
After a surprise fall for the previous week, the SPP bounced back during the week ended 14 January, to reach a new record level of 201.85p/kg.
The SPP is now nearly 63 pence ahead of where it was this time a year ago.
While the pig sector's outlook looks to be improving, it is likely that average costs remain above the average price.
The latest rise, continuing the trend during December, but interrupted by a 1p drop in the first week of 2023, comes amid reports of current or looming domestic shortages and stable EU prices.
There is also significant variation within the industry when it comes to both pig price and feed and other costs, meaning some will be faring better than others.
Following the trend of the SPP, the APP dropped back by 1.69p to 204.74p/kg in the week ended 7 January, with the gap between the two price averages narrowing to 4.5p.
The EU reference price has been stable for the past three weeks – for the week ended 8 January, it stood at 179.83p/kg, fractionally down on the previous week, with the gap between the EU and UK reference prices at closing to below 24p.
An estimated total of 159,600 clean pigs were slaughtered in the week ending 14 January, a weekly increase of 11,100 head but 18,100 head behind the 5-year average and 16,000 down on a year ago.
Average carcase weights for the week ending January increased for the second week in a row to reach 89.44kg, still nearly 6kg below year earlier levels and also below the 2021 average of 90.42kg.
