Pig market: 18/09/2017

Prices reported to IFA

Comment: Steady as she goes this week with Irish pig prices. The dust has finally settled after a few weeks of disappointing price reductions, which were imposed at different stages by the various pig processors, but the general price has settled at €1.62c/kg to most pig producers this week. Farmers have reported that €1.64c/kg is still being paid by some of the main plants and up to €1.66c/kg has been paid by the smaller outlets for pigs this week. IFA pigs chair Tom Hogan said that pig farmers were very disillusioned by the severity of the recent price cuts and he said that explanations given by procurement managers didn’t warrant anything like the 14c/kg price reduction which Irish pig farmers have had imposed upon them. He called on the pig-processing sector to recognise the need for stability and the fundamental need for a sustained period of positive margins to allow pig farmers to fill the financial holes that were left in 2015-16.