Imports pressure pig prices, lamb export trade drops

High volumes of imports are putting increased pressure on UK pig prices.

UK pigmeat exports increased by 8% on the previous year to total 255,100t during the first eight months of 2022.

However, this was outweighed by higher imports, which were up by 16% during the same period, totalling 539,500t.

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Deadweight pig prices remain at about 200p/kg, significantly below the average cost of production figure, estimated at 224p/kg deadweight in September.

Pig marketing group Thames Valley Cambac said in its weekly report that there had been little to no improvement in demand, with fresh meat trade quieter and hints of competitive imports hitting the market again.

“Supplies were ample for the trade and average weights continue to climb as a result of excellent growing conditions.”

Average carcass weights for pigs in the EU-spec standard pig price (SPP) sample are back above 90kg as backlogs on-farm build.

UK clean pig slaughterings in September totalled 918,000 head, up by 0.3% on the same month last year.

Pigmeat production was down by 0.4%, at 84,400t in the month according to Defra figures.

During the first nine months of 2022, production was up by 3.1% at 787,600t.

Sheep prices

UK deadweight lamb prices dropped back by 0.8p/kg on the week to average 523.3p/kg for the week ending 22 October.

Prices are down by 6.6p/kg on the same week last year.

UK lamb exports in August were 5,600t, down by 10% on August 2021 levels, while lamb imports totalled 3,000t, which is 6% lower year on year.

Rizvan Khalid, managing director of exporter Euro Quality Lambs, said trade is not very good at the moment but he still expects Christmas to be a decent trade.

“The demand doesn’t seem to be there. It could be because the weather has been relatively mild.

“Usually when the weather gets colder there’s a bit more demand for heartier lamb recipes,” he said.

Mr Khalid said, from the export side, trade is very difficult to predict at the moment, with too many factors to consider such as disposable incomes.

“The main story is about how much money consumers have to spend on products and that’s going to have the biggest influence on demand,” said Mr Khalid.

UK clean sheep slaughterings dropped by 9.4% on September 2021 to total 962,000 head.

Throughputs during the first nine months of 2022 were up by 248,000 head to total 8.61m head.

Beef imports

UK beef imports were up by 6% during the first eight months of 2022 at 152,300t, with a high portion of this coming from Ireland.

Exports increased by 32% during the same period to 83,700t.

Charlotte Forkes-Rees, AHDB analyst, said: “Shipments of fresh and frozen beef to the EU grew year on year, bolstered by a weakening sterling, as well as a return to normalcy of trade following Brexit.”

GB deadweight steers averaged 443.7p/kg, up 2.8p for the week ending 22 October, and heifers averaged 440.1p/kg, up 0.1p on the week.

Livestock marketing group Meadow Quality reported that Christmas buying has started but a lid on price rises remains, partly due to increased cattle throughputs and anticipation of more cattle to come forward as a result of feed shortages and high costs.

Defra figures showed UK prime cattle slaughterings in September 2022 were up 1% on the same month last year.

Beef production was up by 0.7% on September 2021 levels to total 73,000t for the month.

UK prime cattle throughputs for the first nine months of 2022 totalled 1.47m head, down by 6,000 head on the year.