Pig Market Update 7th August

There was no announced change to Irish pig prices on Friday and producers are reporting quotes of at least €2.38 - €2.40 available from processors in ROI, with some pig farmers reporting up to €2.45/kg available signalling strong demand for ROI pigs across the island.

The weekly throughput for week ending August 4^th and as reported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, was 65,709 of which 1,920 were sows.

The latest update from AHDB reports that the winter wheat harvest is now nearing completion across parts of the Northern Hemisphere, and any adverse weather will likely have minimal impact on the remainder of the wheat crop at this point in the season. As such, with a forecast of tighter wheat balance in 2024/25, and therefore expectations of a greater dependency on maize, focus has turned to maize crop conditions and development. US maize is reported to be good in terms of conditions. In the week ending August 4^th, 67% of the maize crop was in good or excellent condition, up from 57% last year, but down from 68% last week. This remains well above the five-year average of 62%. However, concerns are growing over European maize conditions.

Pork consumption in Europe for 2023 is reported to have declined in all MS except Germany and Italy. Pig333 reported that Inflation of pork products remained high in Europe compared to beef. Since pork is more accessible, pork consumption decreased more moderately (-6.1%) compared to beef (-8%)