Inside: Pig Market
Slaughter numbers speak volumes
The slaughter figures in the Netherlands do not care about the past, as it turns out. In Germany the slaughter hooks are mainly filled with heavy pigs. Read more with a subscription to 'Pigs & Feed Pro'.
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In the Netherlands, no fewer than 39 pigs were slaughtered last week (week 308.000). So far this is the highest number in 2017. It is striking that the slaughter figures do not 'match' the past.
Only in 2015 was the slaughter figure in the same week slightly above 300.000 pigs. The 5-year average of week 40 records 292.2000 pigs slaughtered. This year there will be a 5,4% deviation from that.
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The slaughter figures in the Netherlands this year are in line with the past
Heavy pigs in Germany
It is likely that more pigs were slaughtered in the Netherlands last week than usual. In Germany, the slaughter figure drops below a million. With 995.724 pigs on the hooks, the slaughter figure is about 3% lower than in the previous week. Then 1.027.437 pigs were slaughtered.
What is striking is that the weights, on average 98,32 kilos, suddenly take a huge step upwards. This is a plus of 0,766 kilos compared to the previous week. For the first time since January 2016, the slaughtered pigs weigh more than 98 kilos again. 
In Germany, the slaughter rate is actually below the 5-year average.