Wilting under the pressure of non-EU imports
As Irish farmers look over their shoulders at the increasing amounts of South American beef selling here, Continental poultry producers are wilting under the pressure of non-EU imports.
Coping with such pressures will be one of the main topics of the Space 2003 agri-food show in Rennes, France, September 16 to 19.
Organisers of the show say poultry breeding, especially for meat, is facing an unprecedented crisis.
Markets have been heavily destabilised, notably due to massive importing from countries like Brazil and Thailand (more than 800,000 tonnes of meat imported).
Production costs for breeding chickens in Brazil are 38% lower than in France and 15% lower than in the US.
EU producers are not only losing their home markets to the low cost competitors; they are also losing previously lucrative non-EU sales.
In France, poultry producers are giving up the struggle, exiting the industry in unexpectedly high numbers.
The Netherlands have their own special problems, losing one quarter of their poultry in the recent bird flu plague.
Imports from South America are also playing a big role in EU pig farming. Brazil’s pigmeat exports increased by 80% in 2002, boosted by production costs at least 25% lower than European costs.
The Brazilians have squeezed Denmark and France out of the Russian market.
Meanwhile, low consumption levels have also hit EU pigmeat markets, now paying a disastrous €0.22 per kg less than cost price, according to the Space 2003 organisers. The show will also aim to advise dairy farmers on how to battle through Europe’s 18 months market slump.
Although disease worries and the agri-food slump have led some companies to back out of the September event, more than 1,600 exhibitors had already confirmed their participation by early May.
This livestock exhibition will feature nearly 650 animals.
