Strong demand for pigmeat out on the world market, from Japan and even Australia, have been influencing Danish and Dutch pricing in the UK. Early in the week most attention was on the Danes. Would they cut their prices to follow the Dutch downtrend? But were Dutch prices really heading lower anyway? Erratic kill data from slaughterhouses in the Netherlands had been pushing up quotes in the UK mid month. Tuesday's sentiment among the Danes' competitors in the UK was wry satisfaction with the dilemma thought to be trapping price tacticians in Copenhagen and Roskilde. Contrary to reports circulating in London a week earlier, the Dutch kill was heavy enough to suggest, if not quite promise, green backs from the Netherlands could be cheaper well into next month. On the other hand the Danish and Dutch customer profiles in the UK differ enough to make a sustainable price premium feasible. Denmark is regarded as having the multiples tied up and the supermarkets' bacon sales are known to be stronger than had been anticipated. Meanwhile third country demand for Danish pgimeat would imply a heavy opportunity cost' on a price cut within the UK. The Dutch are seen as still too dependent on the foodservice sector where demand is relatively soft, and are indirectly handicapped by slicer overcapacity in this country. In these circumstances it seemed as The Grocer went to press any price reduction by the Danes would be brief, because they stand to gain more from a generally high market level than they risk losing from a superficially uncompetitive rate against rivals in the market here. {{MEAT }}