Bangkok: The Pork Association is preparing to discuss disrupting the fattening pig cycle to stabilize farm-gate prices. The National Swine Breeders Association is preparing to hold a meeting with its members to determine strategies for raising the price of live pigs at the farm gate. This comes after several weeks of high volatility in the price of fattened pigs, which has yet to overcome production costs, while domestic purchasing power has not recovered, putting continuous downward pressure on prices.
According to Thai News Agency, Mr. Sittiphan Thanakiattiphinyo, President of the National Swine Breeders Association, revealed that despite swine breeders in all regions attempting to maintain prices for several weeks, market conditions are not conducive to price increases. The association reported that the reference price for live fattened pigs at the farm gate in Bangkok and surrounding areas as of January 26, 2026, was 58-60 baht per kilogram, which is still below production costs.
The volume of pigs produced still exceeds consumer demand, coupled with decreased purchasing power. The farm-gate price of fattened pigs remains at only approximately 89-96% of the production cost, resulting in pig farmers continuing to lose around 300-800 baht per pig, under a production cost of approximately 74 baht per kilogram (in the case of purchasing piglets for fattening).
The farm-gate price of pigs is around 50 baht per kilogram, resulting in farmers losing almost 1,000 baht per head. The main reasons are high production costs and changes in the pig farming structure. The area for pig farming in Bangkok, its surrounding areas, and the western region has decreased due to environmental limitations, causing production to shift to the northeastern and lower northern regions. This has led to increased transportation costs and weight losses during transit, resulting in a price difference of more than 10 baht per kilogram between the farm-gate price and the central market price of pigs.
The association is preparing to hold discussions with major operators to determine short-term price stabilization measures, continuing to emphasize voluntary cooperation. These measures include "breaking the fattening cycle" by using piglets for roasted suckling pig, reducing the number of pigs entering full-scale fattening and decreasing supply pressure in the market. The goal is to maintain farm-gate pork prices at around 70 baht per kilogram, which should still be sufficient to cover production costs.
In the medium term, the Department of Livestock Development has coordinated the expansion of the chilled pork market to Malaysia, and it is expected that exports will begin soon.
In the long term, the president of the National Swine Breeders Association stated that it is necessary to hold discussions with relevant agencies to consider measures to restructure production, such as managing the number of breeding sows to align with supply and demand in the system, reducing price volatility in pork, and creating stability for the Thai pork industry in the long run.