Prices are reported as unchanged in Germany, the Netherlands, France and Austria. The Spanish quotation, still ranking first in the European price structure of the five EU member countries most prominent in pig keeping, also maintains the level it has achieved so far.

The numbers of pigs for slaughter have been high for seasonal reasons. Slaughter weights have also recently gone up. Because of fluctuations in petrol prices in France, logistics have been subjected to delays.

It has been reported that prices in Belgium and Denmark have been increasing. After the clear price drop caused by the African swine fever outbreak eight weeks ago, Belgian slaughter pig prices are showing signs of a slight increase. However, they continue to lag behind other countries’ prices, showing a gap of as much as 14 cents towards the German corrected quotation.

In Denmark, quotations rose by a corrected 3 cents. As a result, the gap towards the corrected German quotation could be reduced in a noticeable way. Recently, Danish quotations stayed unchanged for as long as six weeks.

After adjustments made to the ISN standards, British slaughter pig quotations dropped because of currency fluctuations. In Italy, prices are spiraling downwards due to supply-related reasons.

^{_{(Source: ISN - Interessengemeinschaft der Schweinehalter Deutschlands) 1) corrected quotation: The official Quotations of the different countries are corrected, so that each quotation has the same base (conditions).}}

^{_{2) These quotations are based on the correction formulas applied since 01.08.2010.
base: 57 per cent lean-meat-percentage; farm-gate-price; 79 per cent killing-out-percentage, without value-added-tax}}

Trend for the German market

At the start of this week, the domestic slaughter pig market was observed as mostly balanced. The quantities on offer continue to be in high demand. Market participants continue to wait for additional impulse as well as for room for improvement. With the quantities of live pigs currently being extensive, the crucial price increase for pigs for slaughter remains unwavering.