Cattle production, exports significantly drops in Q1
There was an overall slump in the total production of cattle between January and March 2019, the latest Meat Chronicle report from the Meat Board of Namibia shows.
The report shows that year on year, an 18.55 % decrease was witnessed in the total production of cattle during the months of January to March compared to the same period of 2018, while production decreased from 115,257 in quarter 1 of 2018 to 93,873 in quarter 1 of 2019.
Since livestock exports are a leading contributor to the sector’s performance, their 26.49% decline greatly influenced an overall weak performance.
This decline can be attributed to the weak demand for weaners by South African feedlots who were adversely affected by foot and mouth related trade restrictions, the report stated.
According to the report, export abattoirs improved performance with a 22.1 growth rate on account of drought-induced marketing. Butchers on the other hand experienced a decline of 21.20% losing market share to export abattoirs whose producer prices remained competitive during the first quarter.
Although weighted average capacity utilisation of export abattoirs for the first quarter stood at 70.30% it is worth noting that Meatco registered a 107.86% monthly capacity utilisation in March alone, indicating over-capacity utilisation.
