Pig prices rise again as producers see 'better' financial position

Amid clear signs of tightening supplies, the EU-spec SPP gained 0.67 pence to reach 202.52p pence
Amid clear signs of tightening supplies, the EU-spec SPP gained 0.67 pence to reach 202.52p pence

Pig prices have increased again to a new record high, with beleaguered producers now seeing a 'better' financial position.

Amid clear signs of tightening supplies, the EU-spec SPP gained 0.67 pence to reach 202.52p pence.

The increase during the week ended 21 January followed the previous week's even bigger gain of 1.65p.

The price rise comes amid continuing reports of current or looming shortages and stable and relatively healthy EU prices.

The SPP is now nearly 64 pence ahead of where it was this time a year ago.

Wheat prices are also continuing to drop, with them quoted at £222/tonne for March by AHDB on 25 January.

Responding to the news, the National Pig Association (NPA) said UK pig producers were in a "better financial position than for some time".

However, it warned that many producers had already locked into higher feed prices, so they were not seeing the benefits of falling cereal prices.

"There is still a long to go for producers to recover even a fraction of the losses endured over the past two years," the body added.

Following the trend of the SPP, the APP recovered to gain 0.51p to reach 205.26p/kg in the week ended 14 January 14, after a 1.69p drop the previous week.

The gap between the two price averages narrowed to 3.4p.