Food Markets

Spanish pork exports continue to grow and grow. With the largest sow herd in Europe, and now the largest pig herd too, exports have been growing at rapid levels. Exports in May showed a 40% increase compared with a year earlier. As evidenced by below AHDB graph growth has been almost continual for 18 months, […]

A definite cooling has taken place in the prices available from Asia over the last few weeks, particularly China. Chinese local pig price continues to decrease slowly. Meanwhile in Europe increasing pig prices in June and July appear to have stabilised and been fairly static for the last couple of weeks. There is still a […]

North Atlantic mackerel season is underway now in Greenland, Faroes and Iceland. The Faroes and Greenland still have access to the Russian market, while the rest of the supply origins remain banned. Many suppliers will be turning their attention to Nigeria, which is the largest (and highest-paying) market in West Africa for mackerel. The market […]

In a move first signalled last May, global meat giant JBS has confirmed it will establish the parent company for the whole JBS Group here in Ireland. Under documents lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in New York this week, JBS detailed its plans for a proposed global reorganisation of JBS. Upon the […]

The biggest news in the global beef market over the last few weeks has been the granting of access for Brazilian beef to the U.S. market. Brazil has been granted access to the “Third Country” quota section which limits imports to 64,805 tons per annum. This quota is shared with Ireland and some Central American […]

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) have advised that the cod and haddock catch in the Barents Sea in 2017 should be reduced. They advise that the cod quota should be reduced from 894,000t to 805,000t and that the haddock  quota should be reduced from 244,000t to 233,000t. The ICES’s advice […]

Scotland as a whole voted to Remain in the EU, however the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation (SFF) welcomed  the Brexit vote. They believe there is now an opportunity to set up an exclusive economic fishing area in the same way as Iceland or the Faroes. Taking a different view the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations have […]

Australian beef cattle prices are expected to remain strong during the next 12 months, according to the Rabobank beef quarterly report. Rabobank said strong cattle prices were expected to continue as producers rebuild the national herd after three years of heavy culling due to dry conditions affecting many areas of the country. “The shortage of […]

The  political and economic uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote has consequences in many unintended places. The World Beef Report asserts that the British referendum result put a quick end to the improvement in sales to the European market in general. Nobody is willing to take chances on agreeing prices while the situation is so volatile.

As the closest neighbour of the UK, culturally and geographically, you would expect that we here in Ireland have a good insight into their national mood. However we were as shocked as anyone in the early hours of June 24th to realise that they had ignored the warnings of economists, allies and their own government […]