Lack of buyers fillets piglet price

Dutch piglet sales ran like a well-oiled machine until mid-April. Although the prices were considered (too) tight by some, sales continued well. The current situation on the piglet market no longer 'matches', as it did a few weeks ago.

Growing German offer
In Germany the falling pig price the piglet market out of balance. The willingness of German fattening pig farmers to sell has shrunk since last week, as a result of the falling price. A shortage of piglets is making way for a growing supply on the open market. The growing supply is common during this period of the year, but the rapid turnaround is striking.

The North/West piglet price remained at €7 per piglet on Monday, May 48; However, this quotation applies to last week. The trend report for this week is a decrease of €3 per piglet. In some states, such as Schleswig-Holstein, the basic price has already been adjusted downwards. The decrease there is €2 to €55 per piglet (approximately 28 kilos, flock size: 400).

The changing mood on the German market is also noticeable for Dutch exporters. Terms such as 'difficult' and 'slow' sales are used by traders. The statements show that traders opt for significant reductions. Dutch fattening pig farmers are also watching the market now that prices are dropping rapidly. In addition, there is poor visibility into profitable pig prices. Demand from other sales areas, such as Spain and Eastern Europe, has also declined considerably.

Significant drop in GDP
The DCA BPP has no choice but to make a major correction. The quotation drops by €3 to €43 per piglet. A stabilizing pig price could possibly restore peace to pig country. Vion's pig price is aimed at this; the quotation remains at €1,39 per kilo this week. This means that the slaughterhouse is lowering its ranking less rapidly than German slaughterhouses did.

Although there is another slaughter day missing this week (Ascension Day), the supply seems to be reasonably manageable for the slaughterhouses. Relatively many pigs have already been slaughtered in recent weeks, according to experts the slaughter figures out. With current knowledge, the market therefore assumes pig prices will remain the same.