Livestock marketing performs well in August
Meat Board shares monthly stats
Year-on-year, the livestock industry posted favourable marketing figures during August across all sectors - with the exception of pigs, which recorded a decline.
August recorded the highest number of cattle marketed during 2023. Year-on-year, a total of 35 601 cattle were marketed across all marketing channels, an increase of 95.5% from 2022’s 18 212 cattle.Year-on-year, the livestock industry posted favourable marketing figures during August across all sectors - with the exception of pigs, which recorded a decline.
Similarly, exports of beef products increased substantially during August on account of a doubling performance by export-approved abattoirs in comparison to last year.
This is according to the latest monthly statistics for August by the Meat Board of Namibia.
Cattle
The improved performance in the sector was driven by significant increase in the number of cattle slaughtered by export-approved abattoirs, which more than doubled their slaughtering during August while butchers reduced significantly, the Meat Board reported.
Price developments pointed to a competitive beef carcass price in Namibia which has consistently outperformed its South African counterpart.
On the meat trading front, beef exports totaled 2 174 tonnes, increasing by 145.8%.
For August, the European Union (EU) took up 63.4% of total beef exports, while South Africa, China, the United Kingdom, Norway and Botswana accounted for 17.9%, 11%, 6.7%, 1% and 0.1% of total beef exports respectively.
Sheep sector
August registered a growth of 76.5% in the total number of sheep marketed. A total of 63 671 sheep were marketed during the period under review, in comparison to 36 070 sheep marketed during August last year.
The sheep sector’s performance was predominantly driven by live exports, given a weak performance by export-approved abattoirs and butchers. Slaughter activity in the export-abattoir segment took a dip during August 2023 as Famers Meat slaughtered a limited number of sheep, primarily for the local market, due to ongoing upgrades taking place at the Mariental abattoir.
On a year-to-date basis, sheep meat exports Increased by 68.1%.
Exports of sheep meat and subsequently carcass prices are likely to remain at lower levels by the end of 2023 in comparison to the levels observed during the first seven months of the year due to expected combined lower throughput at export-approved abattoirs.
Goats, pork
August recorded an improved performance in goat marketing with a total of 13 493 goats marketed, bringing year-to-date marketing to a level of 90 879 goats, which represents a 6.7% increase.
Local pork production remained relatively stable in the first eight months of the year, in comparison to the same period of 2022. Pig slaughtering for August totalled 3 686 heads, a 19.6% decline, while year-to-date marketing totaled 30 100 in comparison to that of last year, registering a decline of 1.9% with a slaughter of 30 684 pigs.
Pork imports accounted for 67.3% of all controlled meat products imported as a result of limited local production capacity.