Weekly pig prices and slaughter data for Great Britain.
After recent declines, including last week’s 1.71p drop, the EU-spec SPP has stabilised for a week at least, losing just 0.07p to stand at 184.5p/kg during the week ended March 14.
The SPP, which has lost 12.7p since the start of the year, is now close to 20p below the same week last year and at its lowest point since June 2022.
The picture from Europe has started to improve markedly in recent weeks. The latest Tribune round-up showed further improvements, led by Germany, where the base finished pig price and the cull sow price were both up by a further 10 eurocents, alongside notable increases in Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Even before this latest boost, the EU reference price (Grade S) moved up by 3.5p to 135.76p/kg during the week ended March 8, closing the gap to the equivalent UK reference price to 54p, compared with the all-time high of 70p in January, but still more than double typical levels.
Defra’s latest update shows UK clean pig slaughterings were up 2.3% on February 2025 at 844,000 head, while carcase weights averaged 94.3kg, more than 2kg up year on year. This resulted in total pigmeat production of 82,000 tonnes, 5.2% higher than in February 2025.
As is often the case after the publication of the monthly UK updates, AHDB’s most recent estimated GB clean pig slaughterings have been revised signifcantly upwards, standing at 169,638 during the week ended March 14 – 6,500 down on the previous week, but 6,400 above year-earlier levels and 16,000 ahead of the 2024 figure.
Carcase weights, which have been at elevated levels for the whole of this year, continue to drop back. Average weights in the SPP sample fell by 0.24kg to stand at 94.8kg, a reduction of 0.6p over the past five weeks, but still 3.8kg above year-earlier levels.
London feed wheat futures were quoted by AHDB on March 18 at £168/t for March and £172/t for May, slightly up on last week.