The marketing of piglets is extremely difficult. Export demand has completely collapsed.
Many traders are at a loss to find placement space for piglets. Even the greatest optimists see things gloomy. Due to the reduced slaughter capacity, the fattening pig stables are packed in many places, meaning there is no room for new stock.
The problem for the Dutch market is the sharp decline in exports. In week 39, only about 60.000 piglets were sold in Germany, where normally these numbers can easily exceed 80.000. Other export destinations are also purchasing fewer piglets.
Hope for better times
What now? The hope is that supply will dry up from November onwards, as is historically common. Due to the surplus, the market will probably need more time. The hope is that the Saturday slaughter plans of various large Dutch slaughterhouses will help smooth out the market.
There are currently few or no buyers for free piglets, but the low prices do influence price formation within the fixed links. The DCA BestPigletPrice drops this week by €1 to €23,50 per piglet. The German VEZG quotation was unchanged at €27 per piglet, with supplements having to pay the price from week to week.