Analysis beef slaughter
Beef slaughter in June back to average
In recent months, considerably fewer cattle were slaughtered than in previous years. Meanwhile, that sentiment seems to be turning, in June of this year the number of slaughters will meet the 5-year average again, something that was hardly seen in 2019.
Read this article?
Become a subscriber and get instant access
Choose the subscription that suits you
Although the number of cattle slaughters appears to be increasing again, the 5-year average may not provide the most realistic picture that is desirable. This is due to the large number of animals slaughtered at the beginning of 2017 as a result of the newly introduced phosphate rights system. In 2016, 2018 and 2019, the slaughters were significantly less and the lines were more similar to those of last year.
For the slaughters, the month of June ran from week 23 to week 26. The progression is average compared to the previous 2 years. Week 23 introduces itself with a valley. In total, almost 9500 animals have been slaughtered. The valley can probably be explained with the Pentecost weekend, with Monday 1 June as 2e Pentecost.
Corona measures
In the same week, the pig slaughtering clearly shows that there are still a number of slaughterhouses that are not operating optimally, such as Van Rooi Meat, which had to keep its doors closed due to the coronavirus. As far as we know, no cattle slaughterhouses have been affected by a corona outbreak. However, they also had to adhere to the measures, which probably had an effect on slaughter capacity.
Weeks 24 and 25 are both around 11.500 slaughters, relatively high compared to last year, but low compared to 2018. With this number, the number of slaughters is again in line with the 5-year average. In week 26, the number of slaughters decreases to just under 10.000 cattle. This again follows the average trend and the number of cattle slaughtered even remains above the number in 2019.