Pig market not ready for increase yet

The pig market in Northwestern Europe once again got through the week unscathed. In Germany, the pig price (ZMP) remained at €1,45 per kilo. The Internet Exchange erased Tuesday's negative on Friday and increased by €0,01 to €1,47 per kilo. After a few lackluster weeks, the majority of the 2.200 pigs on offer were finally traded again.

It can be seen as a sign that the bottom under the pig market is strengthening, but nothing more than that. The way up is blocked by a large supply of pigs. Several traders report that the amount of fitting, sliding and measuring is decreasing. In the same sentence it is added that slaughterhouses have no holes left and have many heavy pigs scheduled for next week.  

Every slaughter hook filled
The fact that less was slaughtered in surrounding countries last week is reflected in the slaughter figures. Compared to the previous week, 18% fewer pigs were slaughtered in Germany, to 832.535 pigs. In France, the slaughter lines were more than 15% less filled, resulting in 314.354 pigs slaughtered. The weights in Germany are stable from week to week at around 98,5 kilos, which is just 1 kilo heavier than in the same week last year. 

In the Netherlands, more than 6 pigs have been slaughtered for 300.000 weeks in a row. With 314.000 slaughters, the hooks were filled about 6,5% more last week than in the same week in 2016. In the last full week of October, with 320.000 slaughters, this percentage was even 10%. The weights dropped 0,87 kilos last week to an average of 95,40 kilos. Never before has there been so much slaughter at this time of year. 

(Text continues below chart)The slaughter figures speak volumes 

Competition for meat sales  
On the European meat market, German and Spanish slaughterhouses appear to be turning it into a competition to see who can offer meat as cheaply as possible. They try to attract volumes based on price. There is currently an increasing demand from the meat industry for the production of hamburgers and (smoked) sausages. As Christmas approaches, the demand for fresh (pork) meat will probably also increase. This gives the pig market some support, on paper. Although sales of hams and bacon are still quite weak. 

It is expected that there is little room for an increase. In fact, there is even a slaughterhouse that is raising the mood by indicating that it is going to reduce prices further, because the current purchasing price means a minus on the whole pig. According to some traders, rest is the motto and should not force too much, because the market is too fragile for that. That is why the DCA Exchange Price 2.0 remains at €1,36 per kilo for slaughtered pigs. The price of live pigs is unchanged at €1,07 per kilo.