Meat production down

Meat production dropped by 11.5 per cent in the first quarter this year when compared to the same period last year, the National Statistics Office said.

The NSO said producer value declined by 8.5 per cent.

Meat production in the first quarter amounted to 2,810 tonnes.

An increase of 5.6 per cent in the production of broiler meat was mitigated by declines of 16.3 and 20.5 per cent in the production of beef and pig, respectively.

These were brought about by a decline in the number of slaughtered cattle and pigs, by 15.6 and 13.4 per cent, respectively.

The number of slaughtered broilers rose by six per cent.

During the period under review, the producer value of animals slaughtered at licensed slaughterhouses declined by €0.5 million (-8.5 per cent) to €5.5 million, when compared to the corresponding period in 2011.

This was due to a decline in the producer value of beef slaughtered and pigs by 2.2 and 16.1 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, an increase of 1.3 per cent was registered in the producer value of slaughtered broilers.

During the period under review, the average carcass weight of slaughtered cattle, pigs and broilers declined by 0.8, 8.3 and 0.4 per cent, respectively.