DCA Market Intelligence publishes a weekly benchmark price for Piglets. The specifications of this benchmark price are described below.
A standard piglet weighing 25 kilograms, produced on a sow farm that complies with the requirements and descriptions outlined in Chapter 2 of 'The Animals Welfare Act' (De Wet Dieren) as of July 1, 2014.
| Weaning age | at least 3 weeks |
| Surface per piglet | a minimum of 0.3m2 |
| Additional requirements | raised on a full plastic grid |
At least 1 piglet
The price that the trader has paid or is willing to pay on the day of input. The price exclude VAT. Surcharges and discounts can be applied on the price of the standard piglet according to the tables below
Weight surcharges and weight discounts
| < 20 kg | - €0,80 per kg |
| 20-25 kg | - €0,80 per kg |
| 25-30 kg | + €0,80 per kg |
| > 30 kg | + €0,50 per kg |
Advised fixed costs: average €2,30 per piglet, to withhold from the pig breeder.
A plus (+) is included for:
| Reared on concrete flooring (+2%) |
| Floor area greater or equal to 0,35 m2/piglet (+1%) |
| Floor area greater or equal to 0,40 m2/piglet (+2%) |
| Weaning age higher than or equal to 4 weeks (+3%) |
| Blood monitoring, at least 3 times a year (+1%) |
| Group size |
| Boars/ barrows |
| Genetics |
| Flexibility of delivery day - uniformity |
| Duration of loading |
| Ear necrosis: 0% to piglet slaughter price |
| Cough: 0% to piglet slaughter price |
| Deviations: 0% to piglet slaughter price |
The order of settlement is fixed and as follows:
| First, the price of the standard piglet is determined |
| Subsequently, the percentages are settled |
| After this, the costs and the kilos are settled – finally, the VAT is added |
Delivery in that week from Sunday 00:00 CET to Saturday 23:59 CET
Collected from a Dutch sow farm
Price in euros rounded to 50 cents per piglet
Price input is collected during the week until Monday 15:00 CET. Contributors who are members of Vee & Logistiek Nederland can provide input. Contributors log into the Price Reporting System of DCA Market Intelligence, enter their price, and optionally provide comments. On Monday at 10:00 CET, a reminder will be sent to those contributors who have not yet entered a price. A group of insiders is contacted by a DCA price reporter and asked for an indication of the market.
The Price Reporting System calculates an average price from the price input of the contributors using the following method:
Firstly, 10% of the input prices at the top and bottom of the price range are eliminated. Then, an average price is determined based on the remaining 80% of prices. Prices that deviate less than €0.02 from the calculated average, among those previously eliminated, are reintroduced into the price range. Notably, the Price of Insiders is weighted double. The resulting average represents the contributors' price for that week, rounded to the nearest whole Eurocent. No volume weighting occurs, and contributors do not provide volumes. The price range (highest and lowest price) is determined after the elimination process described above. Subsequently, the calculated average and its deviation from previous weeks are compared with comments from the group of Insiders.
The DCA price reporter typically follows the contributors' price for the week but may deviate if the average indication and accompanying comments warrant it. Nevertheless, the final price must always fall within the contributors' price range for that week. The final DCA Benchmark Price (de 'BestPigletPrice') is announced on Monday at 18:00 CET via SMS and published on the website of Boerenbusiness.nl. This online platform is also part of DCA Market Intelligence. This publication includes a brief explanation, the contributor price range for that week, and the corresponding number of observations considered (after eliminating prices that deviate excessively from the average).
If, for any reason, the described procedure cannot be applied, the management of DCA Market Intelligence decides how to determine the final benchmark price for that week or may choose not to calculate a benchmark price, providing an explanation.
Version: February 2024