Pig prices at €1.60-€1.62/kg this week
Pig prices have risen sharply in the EU over the past few weeks and Irish price is now close to the EU average price. File Picture.
Irish pig prices remained at €1.60-€1.62/kg this week, with 87c to €1 per kg deadweight on offer for sows.
IFA said €1.60/kg is close to the breakeven pig price, following feed price rises, and a significant price increase is needed this summer to cover recent losses incurred and to build some reserves in the pig farming sector.
Pig prices rose sharply in the EU in the past few weeks, to an average for the week ended March 21 of €155.19/100kg, €24 higher than four weeks before, and the highest since last July.
The Irish price is now near the EU average price.
AHDB in the UK says demand on the continent may have stagnated, with much of the recent increase induced by a tighter live pig supply, and that further price growth has become more difficult.
The rise in EU pig prices was largely driven by the German and Dutch markets, both of which have declining pig herds.
Spanish prices also rose strongly, driven by export trade with China.
In other EU market news, the European Commission has approved a €6.5 million Belgian scheme to support pig farmers with breeding sows in the Walloon region, in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
The public support will take the form of direct grants of up to €100,000 per beneficiary.
