UK pig prices continue to fall, according to the latest figures – albeit at a slower pace than the declines taking place in major EU pork producing countries.

The EU-spec SPP was down by a further 1.62p during the week ended October 14, settling at 220.12p/kg, after the previous week's small increase.

This was the second biggest fall of the year – and the SPP has now lost 5.5p since mid-August, but still currently stands 20p ahead of a year ago.

Following the previous week’s loss of 1.5p, the APP, which includes premium pigs, lost another 0.61p to stand at 221.08p/kg during the week ended October 7.

This gap between the two price indexes increased once again, with the SPP now 0.65p ahead of the APP.

One of the biggest drivers in the decline of UK prices is falling prices in the EU.

The EU reference price dropped back by a further 2p during the week ended October 8 to stand at 193.78p/kg, led by falls of 4p in Spain, 3p in Germany and 2p in France.

The EU reference price is now nearly 22p down on its mid-July high, while the latest drop has increased the gap between the UK and EU reference prices to beyond 25p, compared with a low of just 6p during the week ended July 23.

Prices in a number of EU countries, led by Germany, fell back further last week.

Estimated GB slaughterings remain well below year earlier levels. The figure for the week ended October 14, was down by more than 1000 on the week, at 160,300, 27,500 down on the same week in 2022.