Irish beef exports for the first eight months of the year have increased in value by 10% to €1.7 billion, with export volumes also up 10% to 312,747t.
The UK has been the standout market for Irish beef in 2023, with exports growing by 11% in value to €811 million and 5.4% in volume terms to 152,000t.
In Britain, prime cattle supplies have remained tight and kept prices firm (4% higher than January 2023, but 4% lower than the peak in May 2023).
While EU beef production has remained tight so far in 2023 (down 4.5% to June 2023), the inflationary impact on consumption has moderated demand for cattle with the average EU young bull price of €4.86/kg last week, falling by 29c (6%) since January.
With the weaker market conditions, Irish beef exports to the EU to the end of August decreased in value terms by 3.6% to €822 million, while the volume of exports was back by 5.6% to 140,000t.
Lower carcass weights
Poorer cattle performance at grass this summer has resulted in many cattle taking longer to finish than anticipated, with cattle numbers being presented for slaughter only picking up in the last few weeks.
The poorer performance has also been reflected in lower carcass weights with an average steer carcass weight in September 2023 of 354kg, back 5kg on September 2022 weights.
Lower carcass weights have been a characteristic of the beef trade for much of 2023 with average steer carcass weight for the year to date, back 4kg to 347kg and the average heifer carcase weight back 2kg to 311kg.
The growing dairy influence on the national kill will also have contributed to the reduction in average carcass weights.
During the first nine months of 2033 there have been just under 1.4 million head of cattle processed.
This is a decrease of 50,000 head on the same period last year. Higher levels of live cattle exports in 2021 and 2022 have been a key contributor to this trend with lower levels of prime cattle (steers, heifers and young bulls) available on farm in the early part of the year.
The prime kill during 2023 to date, is operating 45,000 head lower than 2022. However some increase in supplies is expected as we move into the final months of the year with an increase in on-farm numbers.
The cow kill started the year strongly before tailing off in the summer months. There has however been a week-on-week increase in cow throughput during September and October 2023, which has put the year-to-date figures just 2% behind a very strong 2022 cow kill.
Supply forecasts to the year-end suggest that overall cattle throughput for 2023 is likely to show a decline of around 30,000-40,000 head on last year.
Beef consumption
Across all of the key export markets, consumer demand for beef has been increasingly impacted by rising costs of living and inflationary pressures.
The markets and returns available are lower for all parts of the carcass. This includes forequarter beef which had been in good demand up until early 2023.
Globally, consumers are reducing their spending on protein and this has seen prices for beef fall in most beef producing regions.
Live exports
2023 has been a very positive year for the live export cattle trade with export figures for the year to date operating 15% ahead of the same period last year at 287,174 head.
A strong uplift in calf and weanling exports have been the key contributors to this upward movement in export numbers.
Weanling exports have performed well in 2023 with steady demand for younger cattle in key European markets where contracting cattle herds have increased demand for imported cattle.
There has also been growing interest from North Africa in recent months, in particular Algeria where there is strong interest in cattle for both beef and dairy production.
Tighter supplies of slaughter age cattle in Northern Ireland combined with a firm UK beef trade are driving an increased demand from northern cattle buyers in recent weeks.
In excess of 1,500 cattle have moved northwards each week for the last month.
The longer-term outlook for live exports, in particular the trading of unweaned calves, is somewhat uncertain with the trade remaining under intense scrutiny from a number of directions.
The short-term outlook for the remainder of 2023 remains fairly positive with steady demand for Irish cattle in key export markets and very positive feedback from customers on the quality, health status and performance of Irish animals when they reach their destination.
€4.8 million Bord Bia promotion
Bord Bia’s has an ongoing EU Beef and Lamb campaign which officially began on June 1, 2022 and will run through until May 2025.
This campaign aims to build awareness of the EU and Ireland as a supplier of high-quality, sustainably produced beef and lamb.
Under the tagline European Beef and Lamb – Ireland, Working with Nature, the three-year campaign, which is 80% co-funded by the European Union, targets the high potential markets of Japan, South Korea, China and the US.
The campaign will invest €4.8 million across these markets and deliver a suite of promotional activities to build awareness of, and propensity to purchase beef and lamb among the target audiences in each market.
Bord Bia is currently exploring pipeline applications for Irish sheepmeat as part of the EU Commissions 2024 call for applications.
PGI progress
The application for a PGI (protected geographical indication) for grass-fed beef from the island of Ireland progressed to the EU consultation phase at the end of July.
This phase takes three months; after which, if there are no objections from other member states, the commission can award the PGI.
Assuming no complications arise, the awarding of the PGI and the ability for qualifying Irish grass-fed beef to be labelled with the PGI logo, can be relatively swift.
Bord Bia has developed a marketing plan for the launch of the PGI. “We will plan to communicate PGI status in PR in trade advertisements across our main European markets and to pilot the PGI in our communications with consumers in the Italian market.
“Concurrently, we are working with the sector to implement and monitor the PGI requirements at farm and processor level.”
