ISN reports that China continues to be the driving force for increased demand. From the Spanish point of view, the need for imports into China is estimated to be at a level even so high that the Chinese market might as well absorb all the European and American pigs on offer.

A consequence of this would be that the Chinese sales price would peak. If China is ready to keep the rate of inflation down, the volume of pork imports need to go up. In addition, it needs to be stated that treated pork is a scarce good in Europe and is still well sought-after. At the same time, there are complaints about reaching higher meat prices being a difficult issue throughout Europe.

Alongside the currently balanced market situation, the corrected Danish quotation went up by a good 2 cents. This way, Denmark remains second to last in the European price structure of the five EU member countries most significant in pig production.

In contrast, the Spanish quotation went down marginally by one corrected cent. Because of the many holiday-makers travelling to Spain, the pig prices reached a peak in Spain during the holiday season. With the high season now ending and the quantities of live animals on offer going up, the prices are decreasing considerably. This year, the seasonal price decrease seems to have started at an unusually late time – similar to what happened back in 2016.