The EU spec SPP saw historic highs, as prices ended the month (29 Apr) at 219.07p/kg. This brought the monthly average to 217.8p/kg, with an average increase of 0.9p per week. The weekly increases seen throughout April have been slightly subdued compared to previous months. The EU spec SPP has showed gains of just under 3p over the four weeks of April, and gained nearly 19p over the 17 weeks since the start of the year (w/e 07 Jan).

The EU spec APP has seen similar gains, reaching a peak of 219.34p/kg in the week ending 15 April. The week ending 22 April saw a fall of -0.48p, down to 218.86p, the first fall recorded since the middle of February. This brought the average price for April to just under 219p/kg, with the gap between SPP and APP narrowing further. The week ending 22 April saw near parity between the two price series, a gap of just 0.64p.

GB estimated slaughterings sat at just under 634,000 head for the month of April, (w/e 08 Apr – 29 Apr), 93,100 head down from last April. Average weekly throughputs sat at 158,500 head, down 23,300 head compared to the same weeks last year.

In Europe, prices continue to rise in much the same pattern as the UK, with the difference between the UK and EU reference price sitting at 4p/kg. The EU average reached an all-time high of 211.7p/kg for the week ending 23 April, averaging 209p/kg for the four weeks w/e 02 April – 23 April, with a leap of nearly 4p during this time.

In the 17 weeks since the beginning of the year, the EU average has gained nearly 32p/kg, with key producing countries such as Spain seeing price increases of over 43p, and France with growth of nearly 47p during this time frame. Similarly, strong growth of between 30 – 33p has been recorded in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. Meanwhile Denmark has seen increases of only 13p/kg following a period of falling prices in January.