The Meat Board of Namibia says the country resorted to importing at least 60% of its pork requirements despite having slaughtered 11,363 pigs to produce a total of 1,108 tonnes of pork in the second quarter (Q2).
According to a report by the Meat Board of Namibia, pork production could only cater to 40.4% of local fresh pork consumption requirements necessitating the import of 1,631 tonnes of fresh and processed pork to cover the gap.
“This is rather unfortunate as local production is expected to increase to counterbalance the lack of pork within the domestic market due to the ongoing ban on the importation of pork particularly from South Africa,” the report noted.
According to the report, of the total volumes of pork imports, 61.7% was composed of pork offal whereas pork cuts and cooked pork and uncooked processed pork made up 26.7% and 11.6%, respectively.
Cattle and sheep recorded an improved slaughtering in the period under review due to improvements in marketing which were aided by favourable producer prices.
“The livestock and meat industry rebounded during the second quarter of 2023. Strong slaughtering activities at A-class abattoirs in the cattle and sheep sectors drove improvements in total marketing. Coupled to this, is the increase in producer prices which remains a pillar of support for the slaughter market segment which had a decent market share in the second quarter of the year,” the latest report revealed.
A total of 78,212 cattle were marketed during the Q2 of 2023, representing an 8% growth from the level observed in the Q2 of 2022.
In terms of sheep, a total of 276,325 were marketed compared to 234,354 in 2022. The improved performance in sheep marketing was driven by a sustained growth in live export of sheep coupled with increased slaughtering at export approved abattoirs, says the report.
Meanwhile, the ratio between live exports and slaughtering in the country improved with 53% of all cattle marketed being slaughtered at A, B and C class abattoirs, while live exports market share reduced and averaged 47.0%, a decline of 5.9% of total marketing.
In contrast, beef imports dropped by 52.4% from the 547 tonnes imported during 2022 to 260 tonnes during 2023.
“Export approved abattoirs have over the past couple of months increased their supply of beef into the domestic market and this has reduced the volumes of beef entering the country, particularly offal products. Meanwhile, imports consisted of offal and canned beef only, which accounted for 23.8% and 76.5% of all beef imports, respectively. Beef trade balance has improved by 4,799 tons in 2023, showing a better balance of trade position due to increased production and export of beef,” the report said
On the other hand, the sheep sector recorded a consecutive growth rate of 17.9%, while slaughtering at export approved establishments increased by 141.4% in comparison to the moderate marketing levels recorded in 2022.
“This notable growth was reflected within mutton exports that nearly grew by the same margin. Mutton exports stood at 379 tonnes by the end of the quarter, relative to 179 tonnes exported during the same period in 2022. Mutton imports on the other hand totaled 53 tonnes in the form of offal during the period under review.”
In addition, the Meat Board said market signals appear to be well-functioning in the livestock and meat industry as producers responded well to relatively attractive prices offered by A-class abattoirs. B2 producer prices paid by export approved abattoirs south of the veterinary cordon fence (sVCF) averaged N$61.06/kg, a 0.5% increase from the average N$60.77/kg paid last year during the same period.
Weaner prices struggled to recover during the second quarter of 2023 and averaged N$24.97/kg by the end of the period.
“This is a decline of 31.7% compared to the 2022 level of N$36.58/kg. The situation is attributed to the decline in demand for Namibian weaners by South Africa whilst South African weaners on the other hand, fetched relatively higher prices and averaged N$32.05/kg, N$7.08/kg higher than Namibian weaner prices during the second quarter of 2023.”
This is though, the Weaner/B2 producer price ratio reached an all-time low ratio of 40.9 percent during the quarter under review from the ideal 64% benchmark as a result of extremely low weaner prices recorded in 2023. Sustaining the 64% percent ratio would result in maintaining balance in the industry among market segments, the report stated.
“Beef exports mirrored the increased slaughtering observed at export-approved abattoirs during the second quarter of 2023 and totalled 5,039 tonnes, up by 38.8% from 3,630 tonnes recorded in the corresponding 2022 period. Additionally, The Rundu abattoir is expected to resume operations in the coming months. This will serve as an additional marketing stream for the Northern farmers which will inadvertently complement beef exports to regional markets.”
Contrary to the goats sector, the total marketing of goats increased from 35,538 goats marketed during the second quarter of 2022 to 37,178 this year, although goat slaughtering decreased significantly by 76.85%. However, overall marketing increased by 4.6% following the positive trend in live goat exports.
“Goat lamb prices at auctions subsided and averaged N$32.06/kg during the second quarter of 2023, decreasing by N$7.67/kg from the level observed in 2022.”
