UK clean pig slaughterings down

UK clean pig slaughterings in September dropped noticeably year-on-year for the first time this year, to 785,000 head.

That was almost 2% below last year, although throughputs were particularly high then, said a BPEX report. Sow and adult boar slaughterings reached 23,800 head, around 3,500 more than last year. “The number of adult pigs slaughtered in the third quarter of 2012 was 11,000 higher than a year earlier. This indicates that producers are still struggling as a result of the higher cost of production.” The average clean pig carcass weight in September was more than a kilo below last year, at 77.8kg, leading to a 3% drop in pigmeat production, to 64,500t.

Throughputs in October were also down, with 169,000 clean pigs slaughtered in the week to 20 October – about 2,600 below the same time last year. As a result, the EU-spec Deadweight Average Pig Price reached another record high of 158.79p/kg in the week to 27 October, 12.5p/kg above last year. “High EU prices remain the key driver of the increase but the seasonal increase in consumer demand for pigmeat may also be beginning to play a part,” said the report.

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