EU pigmeat prices have declined by 1.4% to an average price of €248.0/100kg carcass weight, compared to last month, according to the latest EU pigmeat dashboard.
Piglet prices in the EU were down by 3.9% on last month at an average price of €84.4/head. However, average pigmeat and piglet prices were 25% and 72.5% higher respectively than last year.
Pigs slaughtered
The number of pigs slaughtered across EU member states between January and May 2023 declined by 8.9%, compared to the same period last year, dashboard figures show.
Ireland was among the six EU countries that saw the biggest drop in pig slaughterings during the first five months of this year, recording a decline of 10.8%.
Changes in the number of pigs slaughtered were most significant in Denmark and Slovakia which recorded drops of 18.3% and 13.9% respectively.
Meanwhile, pig slaughterings in Greece rose by 5.6% during the first five months of 2023, compared to the same period last year, according to latest EU figures.
EU pigmeat exports
EU pigmeat exports in the first four months of 2023 stood at 1.55 million tonnes carcass weight. This is below the 2022 level where 1.82 million tonnes were exported during the same period.
Total EU pigmeat exports rose in 2020 to 6.58 million tonnes carcass weight. However, exports declined in 2021 to 6.41 million tonnes, annual EU export figures show.
The top export destinations for EU pigmeat in the first four months of 2023 were China (-3.9%), the UK (+1.1%), and Japan (-10.1%) at 452,000t, 292,000t and 152,000t respectively.
The most significant drops were recorded in exports to the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and Australia. Exports to these countries fell by 34.8%, 30.9% and 38.6% respectively.
The EU remains the largest exporter of pig products in the world at 1.34 million tonnes, which is down from 1.58 million tonnes exported in the first four months of 2022.
The US is the second largest exporter of pig products at 1 million tonnes, followed by Brazil at 416,000t and Canada at 414,000t between January and April this year.
Figures for up to April 2023 show that China and Hong Kong were the main world importers of pig products. Their share of imports rose from 1 million tonnes in 2022 to 1.13 million tonnes this year.