Pig and piglet prices show no sign of weakening

Both the piglet and pig price make a stable impression this week, although behind the scenes there are factors that may influence the market. The loss of a processing day at Easter is noticeable in trade. Slaughter pigs are harder to place and traders sometimes have to shift them around. That was different in recent weeks. There are no major problems and the expectation is that demand for slaughter-ready pigs will soon pick up again. It is possible that supply will be somewhat more ample in the coming weeks, because around the outbreak of African swine fever more piglets remained in the Netherlands, traders say. It remains to be seen from the meat market how demand develops after Easter. Demand for industrial meat is under pressure, on which Tönnies has lowered the quotation by €0.10 to €0.73 per kilo. The company says sales are stalling and that meat is being frozen. The supply of slaughter sows in Germany appears to be high, despite the higher piglet prices. For the development of the pig price later this year, this is not a favorable development. At the same time, Dutch traders say that pigs and slaughter sows are easy to place in Germany. The DCA Exchange Mutation Price remains unchanged this week. Supply of piglets grows In the piglet market, there is no longer any shortage. The market is tending toward a slight oversupply, partly because one fewer day is being slaughtered this week and piglets are harder to place. In addition, demand for piglets in Spain is weakening, which is putting pressure on free market prices. This mainly affects smaller batches, whose prices are once again below €70 per piglet. Spanish demand is expected to fall further in the coming weeks, as is usual seasonally. The supply of piglets is strengthened because closed farms sometimes decide to sell piglets instead of fattening them themselves, with the market prospects in mind. Slowly, pressure is building on the piglet price, although this is not yet concretely visible in the quotations. The DCA BestPigletPrice is unchanged this week for the third time at €57.50 per piglet.