Approximately 5,500 weanling bulls have been assembled under two separate consignments and are set to depart for Turkey early next month, Agriland understands.
The news of the consignment adds to the positive year for cattle exports that is 2022, with export numbers up 14% on last year’s figures.
As of the week ending, Sunday, November 13, a total of 266,627 head of cattle had been exported from Ireland. This marks a 14% or 32,200 head increase on last year’s export numbers to date.
The table below shows live cattle exports by type from 2020 to 2022:
2020 2021 2022 2020/22 2021/22 Calves: 142,069 139,598 169,456 +19% +21% Weanlings: 27,406 17,412 27,446 0% +58% Stores: 42,086 44,744 34,940 -17% -22% Adult cattle: 33,882 32,654 34,785 +3% +7% Total: 245,443 234,408 266,627 +9% +14%
As the table above indicates, the most significant increases were seen in the calf and weanling categories.
Calf export numbers remained high this year, despite sailing challenges for multiple weeks.
The number of store cattle exported this year has fallen by over 9,800 head. This is primarily due to the strong demand from Northern Ireland for store cattle last year, which has not been as apparent this year.
The table below shows live Irish cattle exports by destination from 2020 to 2022:
2020 2021 2022 2021/2022 Netherlands: 48,740 48,918 96,434 +97% Spain: 77,946 71,531 69,356 -3% Northern Ireland: 54,750 67,075 43,121 -36% Italy: 20,365 27,664 27,673 0% Libya: 12,943 4,928 9,198 +87% Poland: 3,438 958 3,817 +298% Egypt: – – 3,617 – Jordan: – – 3,387 – Great Britain: 5,717 3,610 3,371 -7% Greece: 2,388 2,052 2,206 +8% Hungary: 206 1,715 1,394 -19% Lebanon: – 121 820 +578% Slovakia: – – 791 – Belgium: 4,148 1,972 572 -71% Other: 14,802 3,864 870 -77% Total: 245,443 234,408 266,627 +14%
European markets have remained strong for weanling and store cattle and a strong demand has been seen this year from third countries with Ireland recently gaining access to Israel.
The numbers of cattle going to Northern Ireland have increased in recent weeks as a result of supplies of finished cattle tightening in the region.
Week 45
In week 45 of this year (week ending Sunday, November 13), over 1,250 cattle were exported to Northern Ireland. Over 930 of these were finished cattle and 250 of these were stores.
In total, over 4,200 cattle were exported from Ireland in the week ending Sunday, November 13.
The table below shows the type and destination of the cattle exported from Ireland in the week ending Sunday, November 13:
Week 45 Total cattle Finished Stores Weanlings Calves Netherlands: 393 0 6 112 275 Italy: 636 12 169 455 0 Greece: 195 0 33 162 0 Spain: 1,127 50 267 597 213 Scotland: 100 59 41 0 0 Northern Ireland: 1,262 927 248 85 2 Slovakia: 136 0 0 136 0 Hungary: 68 0 3 65 0 Bulgaria: 198 0 0 198 0 Kosovo: 44 23 20 1 0 England: 48 11 37 0 0 Total: 4,207 1,082 824 1,811 490
A strong live-cattle export market is seen as a positive for the cattle trade as it provides another outlet for certain types of livestock to be sold.
The low number of calves exported in 2020 has contributed to the record beef kill numbers this year and the 2022 beef kill is set to be the highest yearly kill of cattle in Ireland since 1999.