Pig price rise slows with producers at massive losses

Finished pig prices continue to push up towards the £2/kg mark, but many producers are still reporting substantial losses.

The EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) averaged 197.4p/kg on 13 July, up by 0.93p/kg on a week earlier.

Prices are up by 56.85p/kg for the year to date and by 37.17p/kg on the same week last year.

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The all pig price (APP) went to 199.76p/kg for the week ending 8 August, an increase of just 0.18p/kg on the previous week.

Calculations by the pig industry trade newsletter Weekly Tribune now put finished deadweight pig prices marginally above the £2/kg barrier.

Despite rising farmgate prices, pig finishers were estimated to be losing between £31 and £33 a pig during July.

Cost of production estimates in July averaged about 231p/kg deadweight, leaving a gap of more than 30p/kg compared to present farmgate prices.

Industry reaction

Scottish pig producer group Scotlean said in its weekly report that there are still plenty of pigs available to meet abattoir requirements, but suggested sow herds have reduced nationally by 50,000 to 60,000 and numbers are going to tighten dramatically.

Scotlean chief executive Ian Paragreen said the main worry is volatility in the cereals market.

“We are still way off covering cost of production and looking at wheat prices this morning, it is up again for November 2022 feed wheat futures,” he said.

Feed wheat futures for November 2022 opened at £262/t on 23 August, up on the previous day’s opening by £7/t but still down slightly on week-earlier levels.

Mr Paragreen said: “Pigs are proving difficult to move with the bank holiday looming, and there is still a backlog of pigs in certain quarters up and down the country.”

“Prices at £2/kg are still just not enough, they are shy of 30p/kg to 35p/kg of where they need to be. There are some large and small businesses which have some massive financial holes to fill,” he added.

Throughputs

For the week ending 13 August, GB estimated clean pig slaughterings increased by 7,500 on the previous week to total almost 167,000 head. Despite this rise, throughput remains 13,000 head below the same week last year.

Average pig weights for the SPP sample rose slightly to 87.83kg for the week ending 13 August.

Average weights are now almost back in line with the same level last year, having peaked in January at 95.9kg due to the backlog of pigs on farm.