While Irish farmers may look to their local factory or mart for a guide for market values for their cattle, the likelihood is that ultimately the value is determined by what is going on elsewhere in the world and therefore we do well to keep an eye on international trade flows.

Flows in beef across the world is like a map of airline routes. Countries import and export irrespective of their own self sufficiency. For example the UK is a net importer of beef, producing just 80% of the beef that is consumed in the UK, yet they too export beef, particularly cows to France.

Overall EU exports increased from 413,000 tonnes in 2013 to 508,000 tonnes in 2014. The big movements upwards were Hong Kong, widely assumed to be a back door into China and Russia whose business with the EU recovered by 23,000 tonnes though still nowhere near the levels of 2011.

Another significant new arrival on the scene in 2014 was the Philippines who took 9,000 tonnes compared with the year before. This has been a key market for Irish manufacturing beef in the second half of 2014 and we would expect this market to grow further in 2015.

As for trade the other way, Europe is still an important destination for many countries though not as important as a decade ago with total imports amounting to approximately 330,000 tonnes. Brazil is still the big supplier, accounting for just under half the total EU imports at 131,000 tonnes. The next biggest suppliers are Uruguay and Argentina, with 45,000 and 38 000 tonnes respectively.

The trade balance has changed dramatically over the past decade, with Europe now a net exporter of beef compared with the situation in the period 2004-9 when Europe was a net importer of beef. The most dramatic imbalance was in 2007 when Europe’s imports were twice the exports.

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