According to what the market participants unanimously say, the lowest point has now been reached.

With its unchanged price, the German quotation played a significant role again in the stabilisation. The Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, Danish and French quotations also moved sideward.

While both the quantities and slaughter weights are receding, the Austrians are reducing backlog supply. Thanks to the Christmas sales and a good number of orders coming in from the meat trade, the Austrians are optimistic about the quotations to remain unchanged.

Week 2 after the Plérin auction’s restart finds the French quotation show a corrected €1.27 per kg slaughter weight, thus ranking third behind Spain in the European pricing structure established among the five EU member countries most significant in pig keeping.

In Spain, the prices still are under pressure for seasonal reasons, with the quotation going slightly down again. The Spanish slaughter weights have reached a record high. The British corrected quotation, however, is weakening because of exchange rate fluctuations.

Trend for the German market: At the beginning of the week, the mood is exceptionally friendly on the pigs-for-slaughter market. The slaughter companies’ buying interest is quite substantial. The marketers are indeed putting their shoulder to the wheel in order to be able to supply the quantities needed.