Although EU pig meat prices are continuing to rocket ahead, with the German producer price up by a further 12 Cents to stand at 2.20 EUR (equivalent to 194p/kg in real money), much to the disappointment of pig producers, this has yet to filter through to UK reference prices.
The latest SPP rose by an extremely modest gnat’s whisker of 0.16p and now stands at 204.95p. Reports have indicated that UK spot bacon has been traded at well ahead of 210p/kg in some cases.
In the light of soaring EU pig prices, the SPP and weekly contribution prices still have a long way to go before they catch up with market values but one of the main contribution prices has gone up today by 4p to 204p, which is a small step in the right direction!
Cull Sows
Prices for culls are also soaring and went up by a massive 12p/kg this week and are now generally trading between 108p and 112p/kg, however during the same week a year ago cull prices were mainly between 20p – 25p/kg, i.e. a mere £30/head compared with around £160/head today.
A slight reduction in the value of the Euro had little impact on cull sow values with the Euro slipping from 89.24p a week ago to 88.40p today.
Weaners
Weaner numbers have switched from feast to famine with reports of a significant number of finishing units standing empty and little prospect of them being filled in the next few weeks.
As a result buyers have been casting around to see if any spare weaners are available, but with most on contract pig space is very tight.
7kg 4 week old weaned piglets are generally selling above £50/head and demand for 30kg weaners is also extremely strong with reports of deals being agreed at around the £70 – £75/head mark with no shortage of potential buyers.
Feed Market Trends
Grain and commodity prices have remained high with uncertainty in Ukraine adding to a jittery market and the UK spot feed wheat weekly average of £225.80/t ex farm has risen by £6.40/t over the past seven days
This upward trend is also being reflected in the futures market with March feed wheat traded at £240/t and September at £232/t. Feed barley prices are also slightly firmer on the week with March at £216/t and September the same price.
Proteins remain extremely dear with Hipro soya for March delivery at an eye watering £557/t and June – October at £500/t. Rapemeal prices have however been slightly more static than this with March – April valued at £354/t and May – June at £322/t.
And finally…
Despite the much better news as far as prices are concerned there is still a long way to go before all pig producers find themselves in the black with production costs still in many cases exceeding pig meat values, especially in the case of weekly contribution prices which are still lagging behind production costs, which in many cases are in and around 230p/kg.
Unfortunately, despite the surge in EU pig prices imports are still hitting these shores in significant volumes and undercutting domestic pig meat prices.
Also posing a threat is African Swine Fever which is still active in a number of countries on the other side of the Channel.
