Irish beef back in Egypt
Irish beef back in Egypt
By Philip Clarke
Europe editor
BEEF markets received an important boost this week, with news that Egypt is to re-open its doors to Irish product in the near future.
Egypt has been Irelands number one customer in recent years, taking about 150,000t of beef a year, worth over Ir£200m (£160m). That is equivalent to about 25% of its exports.
But trade was cut off almost a year ago when the Cairo government banned all imports of EU beef in the wake of the BSE crisis.
The loss of the Egyptian market has been a key reason behind the recent price slump in Ireland, which has seen R grade steers trading for as little as Ir80p/lb (£1.40/kg sterling equivalent).
At this loss-making return, Irish beef producers were last week threatening to picket meat factories and cut off supplies to force up values. But that threat abated this week, as finished prices for under-30-month-old R grade steers climbed to Ir82p-83p/lb.
The Irish Farmers Association is anticipating further rises. "Analysis we have done with Bord Bia [the Irish Food Board] shows that steer throughput will be back to 15,000 a week from now until Christmas, compared with 22,000 a week at the same time last year," livestock adviser Kevin Kinsella told FW.
Combined with strong demand from the UK, where equivalent cattle are worth 162p/kg (Ir96p/lb), he anticipates prices reaching Ir85p-90p/lb in the run-up to Christmas.
But traders warn it will be some weeks before business resumes with Egypt, as there are conditions that have to be clarified. One of these seems to be that only beef from under-24-month-old animals will be accepted.
That has dismayed president of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association Charlie Reilly. "There is no scientific evidence whatsoever for this 24-month cut-off."
Encouraging this production would promote the very intensive practices which brought about BSE in the first place, he suggested. He also wondered how the industry would be able to source enough cattle of this age and what impact it would have on consumer perceptions.
UK meat and farming organisations are hopeful that the resumption of Irish exports to Egypt will take some pressure off home markets. Irish supplies to the UK are running at record levels this year, with some trade estimates suggesting 200,000t will cross the Irish Sea, compared with a more normal 120,000t.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association is calling for increased export subsidies from Brussels to kick-start exports to other countries outside the EU. *