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Cattle marketing to slow down over festive season

Ellanie Smit
Cattle marketing is expected to slow down during the festive season, and numbers are expected to slightly decline into the first quarter of 2024.

This according to the Meat Board of Namibia’s monthly market watch for November.

November experienced a 58.46% increase in live exports on a month-to-month basis - from 10 035 heads exported in October to 15 902 exported in November.

This is 23.19% more than what was exported during the same month last year.

It said 97% of the cattle exported went to South Africa, 2% to Angola and 1% to Botswana.

“The majority of live exports were weaners.”

Export abattoirs experienced a 15.04% increase in the number of cattle slaughtered on a month-on-month basis. The 7 895 heads slaughtered in November are 40.55% more than what was slaughtered during the same period last year.

According to the Meat Board, year-to-date live exports have increased by 10.22% compared to 2022.

Auction prices

Meanwhile, auction prices increased on a month-to-month basis, with the prices of tollies increasing by 2.67% and heifers declining by 7.58%.

“Weaner prices have noted a seasonal increase, growing by 11.84% from the previous month’s price level of N$24.24 per kilogram.”

The Meat Board said weaner prices followed a continuous downward trend since January, with prices dropping from the high of N$37.12/kg to the lowest price received this year in June, N$23.48/kg.

Slaughter weaner prices are expected to trend higher throughout the festive season, and during the first quarter of the year.

Pork

The number of pigs slaughtered at local abattoirs for November stood at 3 859 heads, which is 11.69% lower than a year ago when 4 370 pigs were slaughtered.

The directorate of veterinary services recently announced that Namibia will be allowed to import pork from approved Foot-and-Mouth Disease-free compartments in South Africa.

“Notably, there has been further increases imports of carcasses from Botswana, which may improve competition, and reduce pork prices on the shelves.”

The pork ceiling price has been fixed to N$51.03/kg as a mitigation strategy to counter the negative effects of the dwindling Red Meat Abattoir Association (RMAA) pork price, which is the current benchmark for Namibia.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-23

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