Pig slaughter figures above average in September

From the first week of September, the slaughter numbers compared to the average. The increase runs fairly steadily until week 39, but suddenly takes a big step upwards in week 40. In the last week, 327.000 pigs were slaughtered compared to 309.000 in the 5-year average. This week's increase can probably be explained by the increasing number of requests for slaughter on Saturdays.

Wide range of pigs
In week 35, the NVWA announced that the number of applications for to be allowed to slaughter on Saturday increased sharply. The requests were granted as much as possible, a solution for the ample pig supply in our country. At that time, Vion and Compaxo, among others, had already announced that they would start slaughtering on Saturday.

An additional development at that time was China's export ban on German pork, which opened doors to other European countries. This also applies to the Netherlands. Meat sales were good on the Asian continent and there were no dramas within Europe either, despite Germany having a more prominent presence. At that time, the meat from the slaughtered pigs could be traded relatively easily.

Varying meat percentage
While the slaughter weight of the pigs in 2020 remains stable above the 5-year average, the meat percentage has more difficulty with this. The heaviest pigs arrived at the slaughterhouses in week 40. On average, the animals weighed 99,9 kilos, which is more than 3 kilos heavier than the 5-year average that week.

There is therefore little stability to be found with the average percentage of meat. While this percentage managed to reach the average again for 2 weeks in August, it subsequently fell back below the average in September. Relatively speaking, the difference is very small; the pigs recorded a stable average meat percentage of 59% in September, while the average is only about 0,2% higher in these weeks.