Prices increase as demand intensifies

By James Brady

In response to many other EU countries, the Irish pig price increased this week. There was a bit of price levelling carried out with Dawn leading the increase with 6 cent/kg, this was followed by a 4c/kg increase in Galtee and 4 c/kg in Glanbia for standard pigs and just 2c/kg for welfare pigs. The North are likely to use this as an excuse to tempt more pigs across the border, as the Northern price rose by 4c/kg on average also.

There was also some spot increases in the sow prices with a modest €1-2 per cwt liveweight being offered. This leaves the sow price at €21-€23 per cwt liveweight. Weaner demand remains steady and prices of €44 to €46 for 32kg appears to be the range on offer. There have been various reports of the impact of the avian flu on demand for pig products and other side effects. For example, one source in Japan stated that, "Wholesale prices of pork have surged 40% in the past 10 days due to rising demand following import bans on US beef and suspension of poultry shipments from some Asian countries, restaurant operators are turning to pork for their dishes, resulting in a shortage of pork in the food sector.''

While in the UK the most recent pig market report stated, "the ongoing chicken flu crisis in the Far East appears to be having one quite unexpected positive side effect, nervous commodity traders are reducing their aspirations on feed costs substantially and although producers will see an immediate benefit, forward prices for March onwards indicate a reduction of €14 to €21 per ton on feed costs.'' This sentiment is evident in the weekly UK on-farm and futures prices where the trend has been downwards in the past few weeks.