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Analysis Pigs

Tighter supply provides stability in the pig market

May 3, 2024 - Wouter Baan

The calm has returned to the pig market, after last week was characterized by quite intense and unexpected price pressure. The pig supply is not abundant, which brings stability to a market where meat sales are still lacking.

Many slaughterhouses chose to keep the call prices stable this week. Only Compaxo increased by 2 cents, partially offsetting the significant decrease from last week. In Germany, the VEZG quotation remained unchanged despite a slaughter day being canceled due to Labor Day last Wednesday.

Fewer slaughters
The market is in two minds. On one hand, the live supply is seasonally tightening. This is also evident from the slaughter figures. Last week, the lowest number of pigs were slaughtered this year for a full processing week, totaling 283,018. The expectation is that the supply will further decrease towards June, although there are still a few weeks where fewer pigs are slaughtered. Starting next week, when Ascension Day falls on Thursday. The following day, Friday, the slaughter pace will also be slower. However, this does not put extra pressure on the market as many traders are satisfied with deliveries.

On the other hand, meat sales remain uncertain. This is all due to the weather. Persistent and convincing spring weather has not yet arrived in various European countries. This is necessary to boost sales. The forecasts for the coming weeks seem to be improving, but in this case, seeing is believing. In the global market, European pork is expensive compared to other suppliers, such as Brazil.

Market price
Based on the developments, there is no reason to adjust the pig price. Therefore, the DCA Market Price remains at €2.12 per kilogram for slaughtered pigs. The price for live pigs also remains unchanged at €1.68 per kilogram.

Click here for an explanation of DCA Market Intelligence on the quotation.

Wouter Baan

Wouter Baan is the editor-in-chief of Farmerbusiness and a market specialist in dairy, pork, and meat at DCA Market Intelligence. He also tracks developments within the agribusiness sector and conducts interviews with CEOs and policymakers.
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