Slowdown in meat trade

While the availability of slaughter-ready sheep poses a serious challenge to the slaughtering industry in Namibia, a drop of more than 28% was recorded in the total number of cattle marketed during the first nine months of this year compared to the same period in 2015, and weaner exports have dropped with 30% due to the stringent import restrictions imposed by South Africa. According to an overview of the performance of the meat industry by the Meat Board of Namibia, by September this year a total number of 229 109 head of cattle were marketed in comparison to 320 709 head of cattle marketed last year during the same period. This signifies a drop of 28.6%. The Meat Board says that South Africa''s revised import requirements remain an obstacle for the Namibian livestock sector while the current drought and the overall water crisis in the country also weighs heavily on the industry. It however points out that predictions indicate that above average rainfall might give a more positive outlook on the performance of the sector. It says that more rain will lead to the full operation of export abattoirs and increased fodder availability for livestock and this will in turn ensure quality production. According to the overview the total number of 229 109 head of cattle that were marketed, 80 439 cattle were slaughtered and 127 397 were live exports. Those slaughtered at the B and C class abattoirs totalled 21 273 and represent 9% of the total market share.“Cattle producers were unable to export their weaners to preferred South African markets due to costly export legislation. New establishments registered have committed to assist Namibia in resuming exports so that normal levels can be reached over time.”The Meat Board says that despite the reduction in live exports of weaners, live exports still take up a bigger portion of the total production and accounts for 56% of the market share.It says that a steady decrease can be observed from June to July from 31 837 weaners exported in June to only two weaners in July 2016. A total of 153 weaners were exported in August and 1 114 cattle were exported in September.A decrease in the price for weaners was specifically observed in July 2016, decreasing from N$17.06/kg in June to N$15.64/kg in July.Despite the prices increasing to 16.68/kg in August, the lowest auction price was recorded at N$14.51/kg.Meanwhile from January to September this year a total of 579 501 sheep were marketed. There was a slight decrease of 25.3% from 775 374 sheep marketed in 2015 over the same period. Local slaughtering accounted for 59 % of the total market share with live exports making up 41% of the market share. Out of the total live exports to South Africa from January to September 8 760 sheep were exported under the “too lean too small” export arrangements.According to the Meat Board sheep exported under the normal quota were 227 143 units accounting for 96% of the live exports. Opposite thereto stud exports and fat-tail sheep were equivalent to 56 and 700 sheep units respectively.The implementation of the South African import conditions on 1 July 2016 had a negative impact on the number of sheep that were exported, with a decrease from 56 881 sheep to 7 588 in July 2016.According to the Meat Board there has also been a steady decrease in sheep slaughtering from January to September this year with a more significant decrease being witnessed between August and September. A decrease from 32 586 in August to 23 574 sheep was recorded in September.It was also noted that with a nine-month capacity of 297 000, a total of 116 565 sheep were slaughtered at the Mariental abattoir. This represents a 39% capacity utilisation of the abattoir from January to September 2016.The Keetmanshoop- and Aranos abattoirs utilised 3% and 24% of their nine-month slaughter capacity respectively. The overall percentage utilisation of the three export abattoirs between January to September remains below the 80% abattoir capacity utilisation. “The availability of slaughter-ready sheep poses a serious challenge to the slaughtering industry in Namibia,” said the overview.ELLANIE SMIT

Slowdown in meat trade

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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Slowdown in meat trade

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-16

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