Irish pig prices to producers dropped by 4c/kg on Friday last with farmers reporting quotes of €2.25- €2.32 available from processors in ROI.
The weekly throughput figures for ROI for week ending the 8th of October was 60,126 of which 1,331 were sows.
The average European price for a grade E carcass pig for week 38 was 225.8/kg which is 8.3% higher than prices for the same week last year according to the Commission, however, it is back -.9% on last week’s average price and -2.3% on last month’s prices. The European Commission published the short-term outlook for EU agricultural markets in 2023 and 2024. In the first half of 2023, EU pigmeat production went down by-8.6%. The biggest reductions were recorded in DE (-210 000 t or -9.4%), DK (-180 000 t or -21.5%) and ES (-150 000 t or -5.8%). This low EU supply leads to record high domestic prices. However, since July, EU producer prices started to show signs of a decline. At the same time, EU demand stays firm but given reduced supply, a drop in EU per capita consumption is expected (-5%, to 30.4 kg). Besides reduced supply, the consumer considerations about price increases play an important role, which leads to a reduction of pigmeat consumption or a switch to other types of meat.
