Lower meat production

Meat production in the second quarter decreased by 8.8 percent to 3,440 tonnes while the producer value of slaughtered animals rose by 1.2 percent, the National Statistics Office said.

The NSO said that while pigmeat and broiler-meat production decreased by 13.6 and 3.8 percent, respectively, these drops were slightly mitigated by a 0.7 percent rise in the production of beef.

The increase in beef production resulted from the 5.1 percent increase in the number of cattle slaughtered, although the average carcass weight declined by 4.2 percent.

The decrease in the carcass weight of pigs resulted from a 12 percent drop in the number of pigs slaughtered and a 1.9 pe cent decline in the average carcass weight.

Broiler-meat production declined on account of a 7.7 percent drop in the number of broilers slaughtered, although the average carcass weight rose by 4.3 percent over the corresponding period in 2008.

Compared to the corresponding period last year, the producer value of animals slaughtered in the period under review registered an increase of €0.07 million (+1.2 per cent) and amounted to €6.32 million.

While the producer value of slaughtered cattle dropped by 8.8 percent on account of lower prices, the producer value of slaughtered pigs fell by 1.8 percent because of the decline in the number of pigs slaughtered.

On the other hand, the producer value of broiler-meat production went up by 12.1 percent due to an increase in the average price per kilogramme carcass (+16.4 percent), from €1.46 in the second quarter of 2008 to €1.70 in the corresponding quarter this year.