DCA Stock Exchange Prize will become a mutation prize in 2026

Starting in 2026, DCA Market Intelligence will implement a significant change in the way the Dutch pig meat market is listed. The current DCA Exchange Price 2.0 will be replaced by the DCA Exchange Mutation Price. In addition, the publication time will move from Friday evening to Monday evening. 

With the adjustment, only the weekly price change compared to the previous week will no longer be published as a total price. The publication time will also change: starting in January, the DCA Exchange Mutation Price will be published every Monday at 6:00 PM as an indicator of the pig meat market for the current week. This brings the mutation price closer to Dutch slaughterhouse quotations, which are typically set on Wednesday afternoons.

Market participants thus have an up-to-date and easily comparable price reference at the start of each trading week. This marks the end of the long tradition of trading prices on Fridays. 

Optimal functioning as an expected price
With this new system, DCA Market Intelligence aims to optimize the DCA Exchange Change Price as a forecast price for the Dutch pig market. By abandoning the base price level, DCA records a new, independent price change each week. This increases the accuracy of the listing and better aligns with practical trading practices, price negotiations, and risk management.

The adjustment is the result of a careful process, during which DCA Market Intelligence consulted intensively with an advisory committee consisting of ten pig and piglet traders from various regions in the Netherlands. Together, they concluded that the existing system is increasingly less suited to the dynamics of the current pig market.

Historic moment
DCA Market Intelligence didn't take this decision lightly, emphasizes Eric de Lijster, Head of PRA, ultimately responsible for all benchmark prices compiled by the company. "For decades, the pig market and the Friday evening quotation have served as benchmarks for the Dutch pig market as expected prices. This is a historic moment for Dutch pig farming. At the same time, the pig market is changing rapidly, both in the Netherlands and internationally. With the DCA Market Mutation Price, we're capitalizing on this dynamic and offering market participants even more relevant and up-to-date price transparency that better meets their needs."

Main changes in brief:

• New system: from total price to weekly change price
• Publication time: from Friday 20.00pm (previous week) to Monday 18.00pm (current week), at the same time as the DCA BestPigletPrice
• New name: DCA Exchange Mutation Price (carcass, per kilo slaughter weight)
• Better connection to Dutch slaughterhouse quotations (usually Wednesday)
• The registration of live pigs will be discontinued in the new structure
• Other specifications remain unchanged
• To maximize market adoption, the DCA Exchange Price 2.0 (carcass and live) will continue to run in parallel for four weeks in January; from February 2, DCA Market Intelligence will only publish the DCA Exchange Mutation Price (carcass).

DCA BestPigletPrice
As of 2026, the recommended fixed costs for the breeder will be increased from €2,30 to €2,50 per piglet for the DCA BestPigletPrice.

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