Crefis: in July 2026 the profitability of closed-cycle pig farms improves

According to the findings of the Centre for Economic Research on Sustainable Supply Chains (Crefis) of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in July the profitability of pig farms operating on a closed-cycle basis showed a reversal in trend, returning to growth after the decline recorded in the previous month.

Theprofitability index in fact increased by 6,5% compared with June. The recovery was driven by the rise in quotations for heavy pigs destined for the protected circuit, which grew by 6,7% month on month to reach 1,644 euros/kg, an increase that offset the slight rise in feed costs. Despite the month-on-month improvement, the comparison with July 2025 remains unfavourable, with profitability lower by 12,7%.

The fattening phase

The fattening phase also benefited in July from more favourable economic conditions, recording an increase in profitability of as much as 10% The increase in slaughter pig prices, together with the reduction in the purchase cost of piglets weighing 40 kg, offset the increase in feed costs, supporting the recovery in margins. However, the year-on-year comparison remains negative, showing a decline of 3,7%.

The opposite situation applies to breeding farms, where profitability continued to deteriorate. In July, theindex decreased by 9,4% compared with June, affected both by the contraction in the price of piglets weighing 7 kg, which fell by 9,3% to 56,620 euros/head, and by the increase in feed costs. The year-on-year profitability figure also confirms a difficult situation, with levels lower by 20,7% than in the same period of 2025.

The weaning phase

The deterioration also affected the weaning phase, which recorded a reduction in profitability of 9,6% month on month and 10,9% year on year. The result was affected by the decline in quotations for pigs weighing 40 kg, which fell by 9,9% to 2,834 euros/kg (-20% compared with July 2025), as well as by the simultaneous increase in the cost of purchasing piglets at the beginning of the cycle.

Slaughtering

In the slaughteringsector, July saw a reduction in profitability of 5,1% , while the comparison with the same month of 2025remains positive, with profitability higher by 7,5%.

The fresh meat market

In the fresh meatmarket, in July quotations for heavy legs intended for typical products reached 5,338 euros/kg, with a month-on-month change of +2,6% (the year-on-year comparison was negative: -4,6%). In addition, quotations for heavy legs intended for non-typical products recovered, reaching an average price of 4,698 euros/kg, up by 4,4% compared with June, although still lower by -2,3% year on year.

The loinsector showed a differentiated trend: the Padua cut recorded a slight month-on-month decline (-0,6%), reaching 3,875 euros/kg, while the Bologna cut rose by 2,9%, reaching 3,500 euros/kg. In both cases, a negative gap compared with the previous year remained, with reductions of 16,8% for Padua and 14,2% for Bologna.

The curing phase

In the curingsector, July confirmed the improvement in the profitability of the monitored PDO hams which increased both compared with the previous month and year on year against 2025. The profitability advantage of certified products remains particularly pronounced: for heavy hams, the profitability of PDO products is in fact higher by 50,8% than that of non-PDO products.

Price trends also confirm the better performance of the protected circuit. The Parma Ham cured for 12 months recorded an increase of 2,3% compared with June, reaching 11,455 euros/kg, a value higher by 7,3% than in July of the previous year. By contrast, the generic heavy hamfollowed the opposite trend, with its price falling by1,1% during the month, reaching 6,700 euros/kg and recording a decline of 20,2% in the year-on-year comparison.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.