Bulk prices are on a downward trend, although the rate of decline is still very slow. There seems to be room for further price decreases in the coming months, provided no crazy things happen on the feed raw material markets.
The price of pork chunks fell by €2 in January to €399,50 per tonne. This is the second decline in a row, although the pace of decline is modest. Sow feed and piglet pellets also decreased in small steps. Cattle feeds fell even more slowly. For example, A-brok decreased by €1 to €378 per tonne.
The feed market will probably relax further in the coming months, which may create room for significant price drops. The compound feed price indicator provides for both fattening pigs- as beef chunks a significant price drop, up to 10% based on current price levels.
Wheat has fallen considerably
The space has been created by a drop in wheat prices in recent months. Although the movements in the wheat market are erratic, the trend is clearly downward. Since the end of October, the quotation on the Matif has fallen from €340 to below €285 per tonne. The price of soybeans is on the rise and has risen by about 10% since October to more than $550 per tonne on the CBoT in Chicago. However, in the chunk compositions, the wheat component weighs more heavily.
Feed prices usually react to the raw material markets with a delay of two to three months. This means that greater price declines can be expected from now on, unless the wheat market takes steps upward again. However, compound feed companies are probably in no hurry to implement price reductions. This is due to high energy costs and loss of margin in 2022 when the raw materials markets rose rapidly.