UK pig throughputs stay neatly underneath conventional ranges, amid ideas from the business that tight provides, mixed with emerging EU costs may just fortify the marketplace over the approaching weeks.
February UK blank pig slaughterings have been down 1.4% on February 2023 at 766,000 head, even though pigmeat manufacturing used to be 0.8% up year-on-year at 72,000 tonnes, because of upper carcase weights, reliable Defra per thirty days slaughter statistics display.
The February slaughter determine used to be down from 830,000 head in January, even though a more true comparability, given the differing lengths of the 2 months is the common weekly kill. The February determine of 185,000 head a week used to be 2,000 underneath January and 9,000 (just about 5%) underneath the February 2023 weekly reasonable.
Carcase weights averaged 90.6kg right through February, fractionally down on January, however neatly up on February 2023, pushing general manufacturing above year-earlier ranges by way of just about 1%.
Sow and boar slaughter numbers, at 18,000, have been 17% up on February 2023 ranges.
With provides final tight relative to call for, and the fee EU pigmeat emerging, the United Kingdom pig has stabilised of overdue – the most recent SPP used to be 211.5p, which, after 3 weekly rises up to now 4 week, is solely 1.3p underneath the determine for the primary week of the yr.
For the reason that the continuing traditionally low slaughter numbers are coming at a time of emerging EU costs, analysts are expecting that the pig worth may just begin to edge upper over the following couple of weeks.