January 3, 2008
Ireland reports 16 percent drop in '07 live cattle exports
Ireland's food board An Bord Bia has reported a 16 percent decline in live cattle exports in 2007 due to bluetongue disease, rising feed costs and lower cattle prices.
In its Market Monitor report, the board showed exports fell by 38,000 heads behind last year's total of 204,000 heads.
The report noted that the main fall this year had been in calf exports, which were 22 percent lower at 87,000 head up to the end of November.
The number of calves shipped to Holland fell by 10,000 to 41,000 heads. Exports to Spain, France and Belgium, were also lower due to surge in dairy powder and whey prices in the year which also upped input costs for veal, reports the Bord Bia.
The board likewise said there was also lower veal demand in the early part of 2007 when poultry consumption has slowly picked up in 2006.
Bluetongue movement restrictions in northern Europe have also affected the demand as German calves, which for the first half of the year were 40 percent cheaper than last, became more widely available for Dutch producers," the report continued.
Bord Bia states Irish live calf exports in the first quarter of last year were up 8 percent at 43,000 head, but this was at a time of overproduction of veal on the Continent.
As a result, in the second quarter Irish live cattle exports fell by 44 percent as producers on the Continent lowered production in an effort to solve the oversupply situation.
It added that exports of weanlings and stores (six to 18 months) were over 20 percent lower for the period to the end of November, at 97,000 head.
Shipments to Italy and Spain fell by 23 percent at 45,000 and 35,000 heads respectively. Higher feed costs, combined with subdued cattle prices, severely affected the profitability of Italian and Spanish markets during 2007.
However, during the year, shipments to Northern Ireland were up by 31 percent at 34,000 head and most of these were cattle ready for slaughter.
