2013 prices cheer Spanish beef and pork producers
Category E pork (55%-59% leanness) rose by 11.4% on 2012 to average €1.936/kilogram, 10.3% greater than the European Union (EU) average, peaking at €2.171/kg.
Prices for AR3 category beef from 10- to 18-month-old bulls were high and similar to, but more stable than in 2012. The average was €381.31/100kg, just 0.33% up on 2012 and peaking at €391.61/100kg. Stable high prices alleviated declining consumption and continuously rising costs previously afflicting beef.
The year of 2013 stood out because of significant falls in the cost of raw materials for animal feed, due to lower global commodity prices. There was a notable improvement in profitability, particularly for pork, beef and rabbit meat producers, MAGRAMA said, without citing specific figures.
Rabbit meat, popular in Spain for stews, frying and the ubiquitous paella rice dish, rose 6.8% in 2013 to average €1.94/kg liveweight. Class A poultry cuts and carcases last year averaged €1.83/kg, 1.6% down on 2012 and 6.2% below the EU average.
Lamb, still expensive for Spaniards, continued to suffer in hard times. Prices for 10kg to 13kg lamb carcases fluctuated widely, averaging €686.83/100kg, 3.29% down on 2012, and peaking at €816.08/100kg.
With the domestic economy still weak, export development remains a priority for Spain’s meat industry. Around 20% of beef and 25% of pork goes abroad, much lower shares of total production than for many competitor EU countries.
Spain’s principal meat export markets in 2013 were France, Portugal, China, Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Britain, the Netherlands and Japan.
Other markets viewed as having potential include Brazil, Mexico, Poland, Singapore and the USA, said Daniel de Miguel, co-ordinator for the Oficina de Exportación de la Carne de Espana (OECE), the Spanish meat industry’s export development and promotional body.
OECE’s priorities for market development include Brazil, China, Japan, Mexico, Russia and South Korea. “In the medium term, we consider growing global meat consumption to be favourable, especially for fresh products in south-east Asia,” Miguel Huerta, secretary of the Asociación Española de Industrias Cárnicas (ANICE), the Spanish meat industries association, told globalmeatnews.com.
.
