Ireland imported 14,119t of beef in the first three months of this year (Q1 2023), the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has said.
Responding to a parliamentary question from Fine Gael Mayo TD Alan Dillon, the minister said that the most recently published trade data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) covers from January to March 2023.
The figures show that 5,627t of beef was imported into the country in January.
The CSO beef import data from the UK was corrected in February, resulting in a negative figure in the recorded stats for the month of -679t.
9,171t of beef was imported into Ireland during the month of March.
Minister McConalogue said that the UK accounted for the vast majority of beef imports in Q1 2023 with 12,920t.
This was followed by Spain (511t); the Netherlands (150t); Denmark (147t) and Germany (100t).
The CSO data shows that 291t of beef was imported from other countries over the period.
As previously reported by Agriland, almost 54,000t of beef, with a total estimated value of €183 million, was imported from other countries to the Republic of Ireland in 2022.
The CSO preliminary results for last year, show that the level of beef imported to Ireland in 2022 increased by 56%, in terms of volume.
The value of the beef imported in 2022 increased by 17% relative to 2021 beef import values.
In contrast, the value of Irish beef exported in 2022 exceeded €2.5 billion, which was up 18% in terms of value when compared to the amount of beef exported from Ireland in 2021.
Minister
Deputy Dillon also asked the minister if the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has carried out an assessment of the impact of imported beef on domestic beef prices.
Minister McConalogue said that the Irish beef sector is highly export orientated.
“Its success is dependent on the maintenance of an open, rules-based multilateral trading system,” he said.
“The latest CSO trade data for first quarter of the year shows that beef imports amounted to 12% of Irish beef exports in volume terms but only 6% in value terms,” McConalogue added.
The minister said Bord Bia tracking data shows that the Irish beef price is “currently 28c/kg above the benchmark price”.
“In effect, this comparative data means that Irish beef prices are above the levels prevailing in our main European export markets making the domestic market attractive to trading partners,” he said.