The Meat Board of Namibia has reported that during July 2023, a total of 2 152 818 kilogrammes of meat and meat products were exported, while 500 475kg of meat and meat products were imported.

The Meat Board reported in its latest monthly report released Tuesday that the meat and meat products trade balance improved by 1 652 343kg for the month of July 2023.

The report indicated that the composition of the export basket for July comprised of 91.7 per cent beef and beef products, 8.1 per cent mutton and mutton products, and 0.2 per cent pork and pork products.

The import basket on the other hand was primarily made up of pork and pork products, making up 67.5 per cent of all controlled meat imports, followed by beef products which made up 31.2 per cent of imports. The remaining 1.3 per cent was made up of mutton products.

The shortage of pork within the local market remains a risk for the sector in terms of food security and input costs for meat processors as this was further exacerbated by the ongoing ban of pork imports from South Africa due to the outbreak of FMD (foot-and-mouth disease) in South Africa.

“The situation has resulted in the country importing pork from the EU, primarily Germany, despite the disadvantage of higher purchase cost in Germany. The additional cost of sourcing pork for the local market has over the past couple of months been passed down to local consumers and has consequently made pork pricier within the domestic market,” it said.

It further added that YTD (year-to-date) marketing within the cattle sector stood at 67 417 animals relative to 67 262 animals marketed during the same period in 2022 and that live exports, particularly to South Africa remained the leading marketing channel for Namibian producers as local marketing channels are unable to retain and absorb all the slaughter-ready animals produced.

The sector grew by 37.1 per cent as a total of 75 827 sheep were marketed during July 2023, relative to the July 2022 level of 55 304 heads, it said.

The Meat Board further reported that the goat sector has recorded a positive growth of 18.4 per cent as a total of 18 555 goats were marketed during July 2023 relative to 15 668 goats marketed in July 2022.

A total of 3 767 pigs were marketed at Meat Board-registered pig abattoirs during the period of July 2023 and the pork ceiling price operating under the Pork Market Share Promotion Scheme (PMSPS) remains set at N.dollars 51.03/kg until further notice, the report concluded.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency