Irish Pig Prices Surge Amid Tight Supplies and Strong Demand

Pig Market Update: Prices and Throughput

Prices

Deadweight pig prices in Ireland are on an upward trajectory in response to relatively tight supplies for slaughter. Last week saw an increase of 4c/kg in Irish pig prices, with producers reporting an average of €2.20 available from processors.

Others reported getting prices 6-7c/kg higher, signalling a good demand for pigs. The average reported price paid for grade E pig prices in Ireland for the week ending April 6th, 2025, was €2.10/kg excluding VAT.

The current Irish price is 3.4% higher than the corresponding week last year when the grade E pig price was €2.09/kg. The EU average price for the week ending March 22nd, 2025, for grade E carcass was €1.84/kg excluding VAT. This represents a slight increase of 2.9% in last week’s EU average price and is 13% behind prices for the same month last year, when the EU average pig price was €1.90/kg.

Throughput

While throughput has improved in the last quarter, demand continues to run ahead of supplies. Total throughput year-to-date is 904,390, which is marginally behind the corresponding period in 2024. The throughput for the week ending April 6th was 64,217, of which 1,970 were sows.