German pig producers’ organisation ISN has continued to rail against slaughter companies in Europe’s largest producing countries. ISN has admitted that an “Increased supply of pigs mature for slaughter has met rather listless demand for meat,” though initially blamed slaughter companies for creating a “domino effect [that] has seen pigs-mature-for-slaughter prices go clearly down throughout Europe.”

Price cuts have hit producers in France and Belgium particularly hard, with respective cuts of 5.7 and 6.1 cents recorded this week. Prices in France have tumbled by 16 cents in three weeks. German producers were also hit by 5 cents contraction in prices, which led companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria followed the German example, although producers were not hit as hard.

The news comes as the US-based Worldwatch Institute revealed that meat production and consumption has slowed down. Commentators have suggested Europe is leading the trend for reduced meat consumption in richer Western regions. Only in Denmark did prices remain level. As a result, Denmark moved into second place in the ranking of the EU’s five major pig-producing states, taking over from Germany.

ISN said that European markets are likely to remain unsettled as a result of the week’s events. The organisation’s analysts said that buyers are very much in the driving seat, meaning further reductions may be foreseeable.

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