EU pig slaughterings in June totalled 18.8 million head, 4% lower than a year earlier and the smallest monthly kill since the expansion of the EU in 2004, according to new figures from BPEX.
With one working day fewer than last June, however, the underlying position is a more modest tightening of supply. Overall, throughputs in the second quarter of the year were down only marginally, with a 1% fall for the year to date.
With carcases averaging slightly heavier than last year, monthly pig meat production was down by a bit less than 4%, although June’s output was still the lowest since August 2009.
Throughputs in June were lower across most major producing member states, although the UK, Italy and Romania recorded increases.
In line with trends from earlier in the year, the Polish kill fell most sharply, being down 9% year on year. Numbers in most other leading producers were lower by between 3% and 7%.
German throughputs were down 4% in June, but were still 1% higher for the first half of the year. Belgium and Italy were among other countries recording increases for the year to date.
Slaughtering figures for July are now available from countries accounting for around 60% of the EU total and indicate that supplies remained tight. An extra working day meant that numbers were up 4% on July 2012, but this equates to a modest fall when the extra day is taken into account.
