There was no official announced change in Irish pig prices last Friday. However, some producers have reportedly secured an additional 2c/kg, while others are actively seeking similar increases bringing the average price reported by producers gone up 2cents to €2.24/kg.
That said, higher prices—above this average, Circa 3/4c higher—are reportedly being paid by some processors across the Republic of Ireland and elsewhere on the island, indicating strong demand in the market for ROI born & reared pigs.
The EU average price for week 17 for grade E carcass was 203.8c/kg excluding vat. This is 1.1% higher than the previous week but is representative of an 7.3% increase on last month’s prices and is -6.9% behind prices for the same month last year.
There was a 5% increase in throughput figures of fattener pigs in quarter 1 2025 – a total of 927,186 pigs. 12% of that total percentage of these pigs went to NI however, it is also representative of a 32% increase in the number of live pigs exported to northern Ireland for slaughter (114,237 pigs exported in Q1 2025 vs 86,814 exported in Q1 2024).
Grain prices for new crop have dropped and prices are under pressure from good weather in the US and Black Sea, and better crop forecasts. However, experts advise to watch for Monday’s USDA report—it could shift market sentiment.
