Turbulent pig market finds calmer waters

The write-down of the German pork price has for the time being been 'limited' to €0,10, which was on the boards last week. This week the price remained unchanged at €2,10 per kilo. As a result, the price reductions of 5 cents at Dutch slaughterhouses were in a sense not too bad. After a few turbulent weeks, the conclusion can be drawn that price pressure seems to be fading into the background.

Had no influence
Still, the market continues to feel shaky. Meat consumption is described as weak, this is mainly a result of the rainy and fairly cool weather. In addition, the support of the European Championship in Germany is now passé now that the tournament is almost ready, although with retroactive effect you can seriously doubt whether this has affected the meat markets at all. Just like about the national team's chances of winning against England, these expectations appear to have been very appropriate.

Drop in demand due to holidays
The Central region has now also had a holiday, and the construction holiday is just around the corner. This means that the drop in demand in the meat aisle is increasing further every week, as many people are trying to relax in often more southern countries of Europe. The meat processing industry is also shifting down a gear, or perhaps even two, because staff shortages are often already an issue. In short, the demand for pig carcasses is limited. However, this is also offset by a relatively tight pig supply.

With approximately 270.000 pigs, the slaughter figure last week was between those of 2022 and 2023. Supply will probably increase slowly again in the coming weeks, as is historically usual. There is no question of growth slowdown with the current temperatures. In Germany, the slaughter figure seems to have reached its lowest point, as last week it rose again to just above the 700.000 mark.

Price pressure behind us for now
As indicated, the worst price pressure appears to be behind us. It must be stated that the horizon in the market is very short. It is still difficult to estimate how the market will react when the holidays are over. The DCA Exchange Price 2.0 remains stable for now. The quotation for slaughtered pigs remains at €2,06 per kilo and the price of live pigs remains at €1,62 per kilo.

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