Inside: Pig Market
Slaughterhouses don't get pigs slaughtered
While the slaughter hooks in the Netherlands remain well stocked, the German slaughter figure shows a sudden drop. The French slaughter figure is also lower. What can be deduced from the average slaughter weight, and why is Compaxo lowering the listing?
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In the Netherlands, 320.000 pigs were slaughtered last week, just 10% more than in the same week last year. The slaughter figure is also 6,5% ahead of the 5-year average. So far this year, 903.000 pigs have been slaughtered; 34.000 more than in the first 3 weeks of 2017. In 2016, when there was also an ample pig supply, the slaughter figure was still 3.000 slaughters higher.
Compaxo's rating down
The average slaughter weight this year is 3 kilos higher than 2 years ago. With an average slaughter weight of 98,20 kilos (week 3), a decrease of 100 grams is visible (compared to the previous week). This implies that the weights are slowly decreasing. On balance, the pig supply in the Netherlands still has a significant backlog to make up.
It is expected that it may take until mid-February before the balance is restored. This, in combination with a loss of margin on the meat market, made Compaxo decide on Wednesday, January 24, to lower the quotation by €0,01 to €1,15 kilo (excluding VAT). Other slaughterhouses, such as Van Rooi (€1,23 per kilo), did leave the price unchanged. The VEZG quotation also remained at €1,30 per kilo in Germany.
Several pig farmers in the Netherlands have announced that the pigs will not be collected this week either. In Belgium, pig farmers say on Twitter that the pigs are in good size.
(Text continues below the tweet)
German slaughter rate down
German slaughterers processed 976.067 pigs last week, more than 2% less than the previous week. It is also 2% below last year's level and 3% below the 5-year average. The average slaughter weight drops by 500 grams to 98,18 kilos. This confirms the reports that the pig supply in Germany is hardly any longer available, which can also be seen from the internet exchange which increased again this week: +€0,01 increase to €1,35 per kilo.
In France, the slaughter figure is 382.371 pigs, a decrease of 3,85% (compared to the previous week). Compared to the 5-year average, the slaughter figure is a plus that can be evened out.