The UK pig price has continued to rise to a new record high as supplies remain tight, but prices in Europe have started to stall.
The EU-spec SPP increased by a further 0.88p to reach new high of 218.22p/kg during the week ended 22 April, follows the previous week’s 0.6p rise.
The index has now risen for 15 consecutive weeks since the start of the year, gaining 18p in the process.
The SPP currently stands at 54p ahead of a year ago, a time when pig prices were climbing rapidly.
After the previous week’s increase of just 1.64p, the APP was up by a more modest 0.58p to reach 219.34p during the week ending 15 April.
The gap between the two price averages remained at a relatively small 2p.
Elsewhere, pig prices in Europe remain high, although they have started to level off.
After the previous week’s small dip, the EU reference price was up by 1.47p to 209.06p/kg during the week ended 16 April.
The biggest mover was Denmark, up more than 5p to 173.3p and still playing catch-up with the rest of Europe, while the rest of the big EU producers remained relatively static.
The gap between the EU and UK reference prices has therefore narrowed further to 6.3p, well below typical levels.
Feed wheat prices have fallen back during the past week and were quoted by AHDB at just under £191/tonne for May on Wednesday (26 April). Other costs, including soya and energy, remain high.
Slaughterings continue to run massively below typical levels. Recently-published Defra figures show March UK slaughterings were 15% down on a March 2022 and 8% below the 5-year average.
This is continuing into April. AHDB’s estimated GB slaughterings during the week ended 22 April, at just short of 160,000 were up on the previous two weeks but still nearly 19,000 below 2022 levels.
Average carcase weights, which have been steady all year, at between 89 and 90kg, dipped back slightly to 89.77kg in the SPP sample in the week ended 22 April.
