As could be expected for the time of year, the European mature pigs market has been quiet over the past few days. Although figures from some countries have not been reported due to the holiday season, in countries where prices have been recorded quotations appear to be moving sideways.

France is the only major pig producing EU state in which prices fell over the Christmas period. However, prices in Britain also slipped, continuing a three week tumble back towards 1.90 euros per kilo slaughter weight, which began four weeks ago when prices had risen above €2/kg.

Looking back over the year as a whole, German industry group ISN found that pig keepers in Germany and the Netherlands received lower average prices in 2013 than the previous year. By contrast, Spanish producers received noticeably higher prices (with an average annual price of 1.8 euros per kilo). Of the five largest pig industries in the EU, Spanish producers appear to have received the best returns in 2013, ISN said.

Corrected quotations from Denmark and France were also above average. Averaging 1.7 euros in 2013, the Danish quotation was thus above Germany's corrected 1.6 euros.