Contract Space Remains Tight

UK - Another rather underwhelming day for pig sellers with DAPP still on the drift and now standing at 142.58p, but the Tulip shout price including level delivery bonus held firm at 143p, writes Peter Crichton.
calendar icon 13 September 2010
clock icon 3 minute read

Contract space remains tight which meant there was very little need for buyers to go searching in the spot market where prices remained under pressure.

Spot bacon was generally traded in the 135–138p region, but some of the smaller wholesalers had more of a spring in their step and were prepared to pay 140–145p for light bacon and cutters.

In the cull sow sector it was however a case of “From Russia with Love” due to better export prospects and as a result most cull sow quotes moved up by circa 3p/kg.

Shrewd sellers were able to get prices of 104p/kg on a delivered basis and 106p was heard later in the day, so there was no need for producers to accept less than 100p even with haulage thrown in.

This rise in cull sow prices came despite a slight reduction in the value of the euro which closed on Friday worth 82.7p compared with 83.3p a week earlier.

The weaner market continues to suffer from larger numbers coming forward at a time when finishers are finding it difficult to get cover against soaring feed prices.

The latest AHDB 30kg ex-farm weaner average now stands at £46.42/head, but some spot quotes of not much more than £40-£43 for 30kg weaners were reported.

On the cereals front ex-farm feed wheat is now being quoted at around £152/tonne compared with £84/tonne a year ago, i.e. almost double.

This is coupled with some rather gloomy forecasts for finished pig prices for the remainder of this year, although some of the more positive minded abattoirs are pointing to the spring as being a better time for sellers (which it normally is anyway!).

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