beef

Eire and UK traders cautious on price prospects EU aid may stem Irish imports Irish beef supply could tighten soon, following a Brussels decision to increase subsidies on sales to third countries and a resumption of live cattle exports to North Africa. But traders in both Eire and the UK are cautious on price prospects. The EU export subsidy boost emerged among measures related to the Russian crisis, which has hit the Irish beef industry hard. However, as the Moscow importers are said to be simply starved of hard currency rather than quibbling over price, it is difficult to see how this form of aid can make a difference. A short-term impact is seen as more likely to follow news of livestock exporter Seamus Purcell winning renewed access to the Libyan market. Collapse of the live export trade from over 200,000 head in 1996 to only 56,000 last year is believed to have been the main cause of the Irish cattle market weakness which led indirectly to disruption of British supermarket imports by protesting Welsh and Scottish farmers last winter. A partial recovery in live exports has been seen this year, but it has not inflated prices. The young dairy-type steers Purcell will want if the Libyan trade takes off should not be of much relevance to UK buyers. These cattle are difficult to sell at the moment even with the market in the doldrums.But precedent suggests Irish producers will try to use the presence of live export purchasers in the marketplace to force up prices of all cattle against processing factories supplying multiples in this country. On the other hand, supermarkets here are hardly short of beef. Reports in the London trade are of the Russian upheaval already boosting imports from the Continent. Safest bet seems to be abundant availability from both directions as well as the home industry. {{MEAT }}