Ever resilient beef recovers from setbacks
According to Bord Bia, the recovery in Italy has helped to boost Irish exports to the Mediterranean country to within 70% of pre-BSE levels. In Italy, consumption is forecast to increase this year by more than 8%.
This recovery has led to a 19% increase in Italian beef imports, but their total imports still remain some 16% behind pre-BSE levels.
Irish exporters are looking forward to 2003, when the Italian import requirement is forecast to increase by a further 9%.
The beef import requirement in Ireland’s No 1 market, the UK, is forecast to remain firm, due to stronger consumption figures. French import volumes remain 20% below pre-BSE levels.
Beef consumption in Germany is forecast to increase by 24% on 2001 levels.
In 2003, consumption in Germany is forecast to increase by a further 5%, to within 150,000 tonnes of the pre-BSE levels of 1999.
The only note of caution from Bord Bia concerns the 259,000 tonnes of beef taken into intervention storage in 2001. Only 19,000 tonnes have been released onto the markets. As the EU beef market continues to recover, increased volumes of this intervention beef will appear on the market during 2003, according to sources in the Food Board.
