Questions have been raised on what is being described as a “very disappointing gap that has opened up” between Irish cattle prices and their EU counterparts, focusing on the R3 grade.
The chairperson of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association’s (ICMSA’s) Livestock Committee, Des Morrison, has said that – excluding VAT – Irish prices for that grade are €3.42/kg.
In the UK, that grade’s price is €3.70/kg; in Spain it’s €3.50/kg for young bulls; in Germany it’s €4/kg; in France it’s €3.64/kg; in Italy it’s €3.58/kg for young bulls; and in Sweden it’s €3.93/kg.
“Given that our prices were tracking the EU average all the way along, ICMSA would like someone to explain why we have such a disappointing gap between our prices and practically exactly similar markets for the same class of beef?”
Continuing, he outlined: “We would like that explanation to incorporate the fact that our year-to-date slaughter is down from 1,315,873 to 1,257,873 – a drop of 4.4%.
We know that the inaugural meeting of the Beef Market Taskforce is scheduled for this day week on October 14 and perhaps someone from Meat Industry Ireland (MII) can have a logical explanation for this disappointing gap.
Concluding, Morrison asked: “Where the markets are so similar and where the grades are so identical, why is our price lower than these fellow EU states?”