German pork prices increased notably during the week, which led to a strong bullish market sentiment throughout the assessment period. This can largely be attributed to growing demand while supply remains tight. The growing buying interest was supported by a notable increase in demand from the retail and foodservice sectors. Multiple market sources indicated that this demand boost could be linked to the mild weather temperatures as well as retail and foodservice stocks dropping. Additionally, upward pressure came from growing demand for EU pork cuts from international markets. This was largely supported by growing Chinese demand for pork cuts, which lifted the whole EU pork cut complex. Chinese buying interest increased after China cancelled a 12,000 MT pork meat order from the US the week prior.
While market sources do not expect to see a significant increase of Chinese buying for German pork meat, the anticipation of tight supply within the EU supported the bullish market sentiment during the week. While demand increased during the week, supply was reported as steady, even though decreasing slaughter weights have started to reduce the meat production, according to market sources.
For reference the Expana Benchmark Price (EBP) for Pork shoulder 4D QC-certified EXW Germany [Expana Code: BH03] was assessed at €3.45/kg on April 29th, up €0.10/kg on the week. The EBP for Pork trimming 80/20 QS-certified EXW DE [Expana Code: PTG2] was assessed at €2.93/kg on April 29th, up €0.10/kg on the week.
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Written by Sandro Schulz
