UK clean pig slaughterings and pigmeat production were significantly down in February, as the long-anticipated pig shortages finally became fully apparent.
Clean pig slaugherings were down 17% on February 2022 at 762,000 head, following the surprisingly small 1% year-on-year dip recorded by Defra in January. Throughputs are down 11% on January and sit 13% below the 5-year average.
“This is the first time monthly numbers have been below 800,000 head since May 2020 when the UK was still in the first covid-19 lockdown, and the lowest recorded monthly figure since May 2014,” said AHDB analyst Freya Shuttleworth.
The large reduction in slaugherings tallies with AHDB GB weekly slaughtering estimates, which showed huge reductions on 2022 and 2021 in February and will come as little surprise after Defra census data showed a 20% drop in the breeding herd in the year to December 2022.
February pigmeat production was 21% lower than in February 2022 at 70,000 tonnes, the Defra figures show. This compares with a January year-on-year reduction if 7%. Pig meat production volumes have followed the slaughter trend with a monthly decline of 11% to sit at 70,200 tonnes in February, 13% below the 5-year average.
The year on year decline in pigmeat production is larger, at 21%, due to average carcase weights being 5kg lighter (88.9kg) in 2023 than they were in 2022.
The latest figures from HMRC also show a 24% year-on-year reduction in pigmeat imports in January, likely reflecting pig shortages and record prices in major EU pig producing countries, further adding to the sense of a rapidly tightening market.
With demand steady and tight domestic supplies in the UK and Europe, UK pig prices have risen steadily since the start of the year. The SPP reached 211.41p/kg in the week ended March 11, putting it 72p ahead of where it was a year ago.