Big Shout Price Players Follow Tulip
UK - Although the DAPP actually moved ahead this week and rose by 0.22p to 147.85p, all the big shout price players followed Tulip, which dropped its price by 2p from 143p to 141p, writes Peter Crichton in his Traffic Lights commentary for 6 January.
9 January 2012
3 minute read
The opening 2012 league table now stands as follows:
- Gill and Woodhead 143p
- Tulip 141p
- Vion 140p
- Still last Cranswick 139p
Because of the supermarket price wars, with Tesco and Asda in particularly strong competition, retailers are playing hardball as far as any price movements are concerned.
The lethal combination of extra pigs and poor retail demand, as well as a falling euro, has worked against the British pig industry, but hopefully once January is behind us normal service will have been resumed.
For those sellers fortunate enough to have DAPP-based contracts locked away in a safe place there was little to worry about providing full numbers were taken, but the gap between the DAPP and the average shout price has now widened to an eye watering 6.6p which makes any earlier promises that shout prices would reflect the DAPP seem rather empty.
However an even colder wind is blowing through the spot market where quotes were generally between 138p–140p according to specification with lighter pigs worth between 142p–146p, but at times like this you know who your friends are (or are not).
As previously mentioned a weak euro which traded on Friday afternoon at 82.5p has done nothing to help on the export/import pig trading front and compares with 83.5p a week ago.
Despite this, however, as well as reports of lower European pigmeat prices, keen competition between the three main cull sow abattoirs saw prices at generally positive stand on levels in the 114p–116p range with a copper or two more available for those with large loads or where extra numbers were needed to fill export orders.
The weaner market is also continuing to improve reflecting better prospects for finished pig prices in the months ahead with the AHDB 30kg ex-farm average now standing at 344.59/head and significant 33– 35 premiums available for Freedom Food standard 7kg and 30kg weaners.
Feed wheat prices which rallied last week have now tended to level out, although they are still showing a slightly firmer trend with LIFFE feed wheat quoted at 3150.75/tonne delivered for January rising to 3153.00/tonne in May.
At least pig producers should have less pain in February as it is a shorter month.
