Pig market hopes for good barbecue weather

The loss of slaughter days during the Easter holidays has not done the pig market any good. There is currently a surplus of pigs ready for slaughter in Germany. The authoritative VEZG quotation remained stable on Wednesday at €1,50 per kilo. At the Internet Exchange the price also remained unchanged at €1,54, but only 1 of the 16 lots offered was sold. There are currently hopes for rising temperatures. Good barbecue weather can give the market an extra boost.

Dutch exports of fattening pigs to Germany have been lagging far behind the export volume of previous years since the beginning of this year. In weeks 11 and 12, exports fell even further. In view of the current ample supply in Germany, it is quite possible that exports will drop slightly again.

Dutch massacres
In the Netherlands, the slaughter pace is also slowing down somewhat, although the slaughters are still far ahead of previous years. In week 13, almost 322.000 pigs were on the slaughter hook. Compared to the previous week, this is a decrease of approximately 7.000 pigs, but still approximately 14.000 pigs more than in 2020.

The oversupply here has not yet been completely eliminated and pigs are sometimes difficult to place, traders confirm. However, the average slaughter weights are decreasing. While the average slaughter weight in week 11 was almost 102 kilos, in week 13 the pigs weighed an average of around 100,2 kilos.

Scholarship price 2.0
The fact that pigs are difficult to place and that exports are also more difficult means that the DCA Exchange Price 2.0 is unchanged this week. The price for slaughtered pigs is €1,54 and €1,17 for live pigs.

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