Having recorded sharp declines through September and October, EU pig prices finally stabilised in November, according to data from the European Commission.
The sustained low price in much of Europe in recent months has led to an increase of EU imports into the UK, putting the UK domestic price under sustained pressured. In the week ended December 2, the UK price averaged €161.97/100kg.
The difference between the EU and the UK price is just over €26. The gap has been narrowing slightly in the last couple of weeks, however, as the UK domestic price falls. The pound has also been losing value over the euro slightly in the last couple of weeks amid Brexit uncertainty.
In the week ended 2 December, the EU reference price averaged €135.57/100kg, down less than 50 eurocents since the start of November. The price is around €10 below the same week of 2017.
The recent stabilisation in the price could suggest that demand is showing signs of a seasonal uplift in the run up to Christmas. Indeed, Kantar data based on UK retail figures shows pork demand to be up 2.6% in the 12 weeks to 4 November.
Prices across the majority of EU have remained fairly stable. In Germany and Netherlands, they have recorded little change over the past four weeks and as of the week ending December 2, averaged €140.16/100kg and €121.20/100kg respectively. Meanwhile prices in Belgium and Denmark picked up a little during the last four weeks. Contrastingly, the price in Spain continued to fall slightly over the past four weeks, by €2.59, and currently stands at €127.43/100kg. The Spanish price is now below the Danish price.