Clear price increases could be noted almost everywhere. The slaughter companies’ demand for live pigs is almost impossible to cover throughout Europe and the quantities on offer are rather below average. Furthermore, the export business continues to be brisk.

Spain and the Netherlands were in the fore, quoting a clear plus of 5 cents each. This way, the price was increased more in the Netherlands than it was in Germany (plus 4 cents) and the Dutch caught up with last week’s difference. In Spain, the price increase must be attributed to the low numbers of live pigs on offer in many regions. One of the reasons for this was that exports towards Portugal were quite lively. Because of changes in the currency exchange rates, the corrected quotations appear slightly downward in Sweden and the Czech Republic alone.

Trend: The European pigs-mature-for-slaughter market is expected to remain steady at least. Further price increases strongly depend on the weather and on the barbecue meat sales connected with it.