Pig prices remain some way off covering the cost of production for many farmers, the AHDB has warned, leaving the industry in an incredibly challenging situation.
GB finished pig prices have been rising since late March, but the rate of increase has tailed off in recent weeks compared to the spring, the levy board said.
Processors have also been struggling with issues including staffing brought on by Brexit and the pandemic, which reduced slaughter capacity creating a backlog of pigs.
Latest figures show that in the week ending 10 September 2022, the EU-spec SPP reached 199.93p per kg.
This has brought the average for the four weeks ending 10 September to 198.98p/kg, 3p up from the average price for the previous four-week period.
The EU-spec APP has been following the same trend, and in the week ending 3 September reached 202.79p/kg, bringing the four-week average to 201.71p/kg.
Despite deadweight pig prices now being significantly higher than the 5-year average, AHDB's new analysis warned that inflation had driven up input costs, especially for feed and energy.
It follows new data showing the scale of the pig sector's contraction, with the breeding pig herd declining by 18 percent in the space of just one year.
England's female breeding herd was down to below 261,000 in June 2022, compared with 313,000 a year before.
This confirms the loss of more than 50,000 sows and gilts, according to Defra's June agricultural survey.
Meanwhile, estimates recently published by the AHDB highlighted how the sector has lost £600m since October 2020 to the end of June 2022, due to escalating costs of production.
The figures show that average pig production losses were £52 per head in Q2 2022.
