Pig Prices (UK Spec)

The UK-spec SPP for the week ended 20 April reached 136.19p/kg, a small increase (0.35p) on the previous week. Since the start of March, the SPP has risen by 1.22p.

There remain signs of an imminent uplift in demand, with a sharp rise in EU prices making this product less competitive on the UK market. Demand from China is also reportedly strong. However, the SPP remains 6.48p below year earlier levels at the moment.

High storage levels and throughputs in previous weeks, following difficulties with factory breakdowns, have contributed to the sluggish uplift in the SPP recently. A short kill week in the latest period, due to the Easter break, may have also had a negative impact on demand. Estimated throughput reached 166,900 head, 5% lower than both the previous week and year earlier levels. Although, this was noticeably higher than the Good Friday week in 2018, where slaughter only totalled 150,700 head. Average carcase weights in the same week also declined by 180g compared to the previous week, at 84.58kg. This was the lowest weight since December but remained up on year earlier levels.

The UK-spec APP for the week ended 13 April was 140.70p/kg, also a small rise (0.60p) on the week earlier. This was similar to the increase in the SPP the same week, so the gap remained almost the same at 4.86p.