European pork market sentiment was reported bullish during the week. French, German, and Spanish prices continued to increase. While Polish, Spanish and French prices increased slightly, German prices rallied, driven by low availability. The limited availability of live animals continues to be the key driver behind recent price increases, as processors struggle to fill their slaughter capacity. Larger slaughterhouses need to run as close to 100% capacity in order to remain profitable. Domestic demand remains stable, around market expectations for this time of the year. International demand, however, has increased slightly throughout the week. There is still uncertainty surrounding Chinese demand. While Chinese authorities continue to consider reapproving pork processing plants across the EU and North America for exports, this has not resulted in an increase in buying from China thus far. However, this could be a sign that Chinese demand could be returning to the global pork market at some point in 2023. While input cost drivers remain uncertain, the impact has declined lately as feed and energy prices have started to fall in international markets. With slightly increased demand, driven by international markets and the decline in pork meat availability, market prices may increase further to offset the lower slaughtering, according to multiple market sources.
The Mintec Benchmark Prices (MBP) for Pig Deadweight Grade S EXW Europe [Mintec Code: BW56] was assessed at €2.11/kg on 14th February, up 3% on the week.
