For the most part, the market for mature pigs for slaughter appears unchanged throughout Europe this week. The prices in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Belgium and Austria remained steady at the beginning of the New Year. In Great Britain, the quotation went up by a corrected eight cents. The Swedish quotation remained unchanged, yet the corrected version increased a little as a result of exchange rate changes.

In the UK, the price increase is said to be a consequence of short supply. Thus, the slaughter companies are ready to pay more money per pig mature for slaughter. Mostly everywhere else in the European Community, the quotations remained unchanged despite the holiday season because supply and demand is well balanced. Because of the holidays, a new pool price will be published no earlier than 8 January in Germany. As regards quotations, Denmark, with its corrected €1.16 per kg slaughter weight, appears as the new taillight in Europe.

Trend: The situation of supply and demand is expected to remain well-balanced over the first full working week this year. So, the prices are anticipated to remain steady.