August 2, 2004

Egyptian 2004 Total Meat Production Seen 453,000 MT

Egyptian total meat production in 2003 is estimated at 440,000 metric tons, and it is expected to increase to 453,000 in 2004 due to the growth in beef fattening operations and the decrease in meat imports, according to information from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service web site, dated July 27 and released Friday.
 
Egypt's livestock sector has shown improvement in recent years despite a dramatic decline in the importation of live cattle. The herd population in 2003 increased slightly due to the continuing success of the National Buffalo Project (NBP). The objective of this project is to fatten buffalo calves to a live weight (LW) of 450-500 kilograms in order to reduce reliance on importing live animals or frozen meat. In 2003, the NBP accounted for about 6% of the total herd. It is estimated that the total number is currently 340,000 heads, the report said.
 
While most cow calves are fattened up to 360-450 kg (LW), about 60% of buffalo calves are slaughtered at 70-80 kilograms live weight for veal production. The remainder is fattened up to 450 kg. The total number of animals slaughtered for meat in 2003 is estimated at 1,990,000 heads, (656,700 cows and 1,333,300 buffaloes). Total meat production in 2003 is estimated at 440,000 MT, and it is expected to increase to 453,000 in 2004 due to the growth in beef fattening operations and the decrease in meat imports.
 
With restrictions still in place for most European countries due to BSE and FMD, the devaluation of the Egyptian pound, and the severe shortage of foreign exchange live imported cattle have become uncompetitive with local production. From Australia alone, total beef cattle imports were 5,000 heads in 2003, compared to 153,000 heads in 2002.
 
For the first half of 2004, no beef cattle imports occurred. Imports of beef cattle are expected to remain the same throughout the year. No dairy cattle imports also occurred during 2003 or the first half of 2004.
 
Egyptian imports of frozen beef in 2003 declined to an estimated 93,000 MT, compared to 107,792 MT in 2002. This decline was due to the continuing devaluation of the Egyptian pound which made imports more expensive. Brazil and Argentina continue to be the major suppliers of imported frozen meat to Egypt.