Price rises predicted last week have failed to materialise on the EU mature pigs market. German group ISN had predicted that with improving weather, prices that had remained stagnant in Central Europe, due to pressure on the leading German quotation, would rise.

On Wednesday, the German industry group again said a rise is likely, but acknowledged tha, for now, "quotations are still on the hold on the European… market." Still, ISN added, "Nothing has changed about the scarce quantities of live pigs on offer. Yet, nothing's going to happen without a decisive signal given from Germany."

Even so, this week no price rises were recorded anywhere in Europe; in Spain prices dropped by a fraction of a cent. The Spanish quotation has hovered around the €1.80/kg (£1.46) mark for seven weeks now.

French producers suffered another major drop-off. After a similar cut last week, French quotations dropped by another four cents to €1.62 (£1.31). In Britain too prices fell. Having risen slightly last week, producers suffered a 1 cent cut, bringing quotations down to €1.96 (£1.59).

ISN blamed cooler, more humid weather in Germany for the delay in price rises, stating that this meant that "the barbecue season did not really kick into gear."

ISN remained optimistic on Wednesday, reporting, "Pessimism and bad-weather arguments are a thing of the past right now. Since the beginning of the weekend, summerlike temperatures and rays of sunlight make people feel like barbecuing again, after all those weeks of rainy days... The domestic market will be buoyed by a tailwind from the demand for barbecue meat over the next days. So, the prices will increase noticeably then. The positive situation is also reflected in today’s Internet Pig Auction’s results."