The private storage scheme for pigmeat, operational for 3 weeks, has already taken a substantial amount of pigmeat off the market. The decision to suspend and then close the scheme was taken after the planned volumes of products were reached.

The most recent information shows that the total quantity of product put into storage, most of it for a period of five months, was 89,841 tonnes at an estimated cost of €27.6 million.

The more meat being stored, the more will return to the market in a few months all at once which risks bringing an imbalance.

The quantities put into storage are considerably higher than those included in last year's scheme (~60,000 tonnes).

An initial analysis of price developments since the scheme was introduced on 4 January suggests that the decline in prices seen in the end of 2015 has been halted and there are indications of a modest recovery in prices in the early weeks of 2016.