The slaughter rate of pigs in the Netherlands has been able to remain at a reasonable level in recent weeks, but that is because pigs are being brought forward. In addition, the export of live pigs to Germany has also plummeted to a record low. The tightness on the Dutch pig market will become increasingly apparent in the coming weeks, especially because...
From week to week, 290.000 pigs are slaughtered in the Netherlands. These numbers are fairly consistent with previous years. However, when you zoom in on the situation, it turns out that this is because the buffer capacity is being tapped en masse. First of all, pigs are being brought forward. The rapidly decreasing slaughter weight is living proof of this and dropped by almost two kilos (!) last week to an average of 99,60 kilos.
Since 2020, pigs have not been this light at this time of year. The trend is that slaughterhouses are aiming for lighter pigs, but this rapid decline is not due to the pigs being pulled hard. A further decline in slaughter weight is in prospect. The first broken slaughter week of this year, with Easter, is not until the end of April. And if we are looking ahead, King's Day will not be a disruptive event; this national holiday falls on the weekend.
Export of live pigs has plummeted
Another striking development is the export of live pigs. Sales to Germany dropped to under 3.000 last week. The RVO data goes back to 2016 and never before has this weekly number been as low as it is now. The figure does confirm, as we already saw last week wrote, that more pigs will remain in the Netherlands. This is due to the lagging German pig price. Until the end of March, the pig price (VEZG) will remain stuck at €1,72 per kilo, as agreed by the pig sector in Germany to get more rest when foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) seriously disrupted the market earlier this year. The German pig price is expected to take a big step up next week, or otherwise the week after. The Internet exchange is already preparing for a big increase.
In the meat market the prices are rising DCA Parts Prices from week to week, but on balance less quickly than Dutch pig prices have done in recent times. Nevertheless, slaughterhouses did not fail to continue to increase the quotation this week to ensure supply. Vion kept the quotation untouched, but Van Rooi increased by €0,02, a cent more than Compaxo did.
Stretch to the top
Pork consumption is likely to benefit from the scarce cattle supply which has driven prices up considerably to even record highs. Poultry meat is also expensive today, which probably makes consumers opt for pork more often. The extent to which these market-supporting factors will drive up the pork price will have to become apparent in the coming months.
There seems to be a considerable upward stretch, although the increase is spread over a longer period towards Easter. Based on the data, the DCA Beursprijs 2.0 increases by €0,05 to €1,88 per kilo for slaughtered pigs. The price of live pigs increases by €0,04 to €1,46 per kilo.
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