'Higher pig price turns thumbscrew on butchers'

German pig prices rose by €0,30 per kilo slaughtered weight in a few weeks. At the same time, the increases in the purchase quotes in Denmark were much more limited. For example, Danish Crown's pig price only rose by €0,027 to €1,12 per kilo slaughtered weight last week. Valeur calls the sharply rising purchasing costs in Germany 'critical' in view of the opportunities on the meat market.

Pig supply and slaughter capacity in imbalance
According to Valeur, the strongly shrunk German pig herd has led to an imbalance between slaughter capacity and the supply of animals ready for slaughter. Where the supply is about 10% lower, the slaughter capacity has decreased by only a few percent. According to the CEO, this has led to pig farmers 'tightening the thumbscrews' at the German slaughter companies.

According to Valeur, the increases in purchasing prices cannot be recovered on the meat market. He still calls the offer in Europe large. According to him, to justify the current price jumps, the supply of meat on the market should be much smaller than the demand. Valeur indicates that he is convinced that the company can continuously increase pig prices in the coming months and that he wants to do this as quickly as possible. However, according to him, that is going too fast at the moment.