Analysis Pigs
Pig market has to go through a bottleneck in the coming weeks
These are challenging weeks for the piglet trade. The outbreak of African swine fever in Spain had already severely impacted export demand, and domestic demand is also declining during the holiday break. Nevertheless, the DCA BestPigletPrice can remain unchanged.
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Since the collapse of Spanish demand, piglet traders have been struggling to move sales from A to B. Last week, the piglet slaughter market offered a less-than-lucrative way to keep things moving. Due to the holidays, slaughtering activity in Europe has been significantly lower since this week. Even on days when slaughtering is taking place, slaughterhouses are not short on supply. The pace will only pick up again starting Monday, January 5th.
This means a tough job awaits the overflowing piglet market. The market for slaughter pigs is dwindling, and regular trade is also plummeting. The market is expected to hit a bottleneck in the coming weeks, according to reports.
It's not true that Spain imported no piglets at all last week. In week 50, 28.211 pigs were shipped to Southern Europe. However, according to exporters, these were sold at very poor prices, which are still considerably below the raw quotation level. Fewer piglets will also be slaughtered in Spain in the coming weeks, and there will be very little room for placement.
Despite the challenging circumstances, most traders are advocating for an unchanged DCA BestPigletPrice. Therefore, this week's price remains at €35,50 per piglet. Note: As of 2026, the fixed advisory fee charged to the breeder will increase from €2,30 to €2,50 per piglet.
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