August 10, 2017

EU sow prices declining

EU sow prices over the past few weeks have been declining and generally by a larger amount than for clean pigs, AHDB Pork said.

"The fall in EU sow prices reflects the trend in finished pig prices currently, which are being weighed down by a slight rise in supply while export demand has been slackening", said the pork division of the UK Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board.

It said that since the start of May the German M1 sow price has fallen by €0.20 (24 US cents) to €1.32 (US$1.55) per kilogramme in the week ending July 30, the lowest price for this series since the start of this year.

The decline is greater than that recorded in the German clean pig market, suggesting the demand for sow meat has weakened over the past few weeks, it added.

The decline also occurred despite German sow slaughterings being down almost 10% from last year in the last three months.

Danish and Dutch sow prices have also declined-by €0.16 (19 cents) and €0.21 (25 cents) respectively-over the same time frame, to €1 ($1.18)/kg and €1.31 ($1.54)/kg respectively.