This is a subscriber-only article
Some 24,066t of SMP was sold out of public intervention on Thursday in the 19th tender for SMP.
Provisional reports from the tender had suggested that almost 30,000t of product was sold.
The product was sold out of intervention at a minimum price of €1,050/t. The Irish Farmers Journal also understands that there was 55 offers in total at the tender, amounting to 91,854t.
Prices at this latest tender ranged from €500.10/t to €1,750/t.
Before Thursday’s tender sale some 375,301t of SMP was in intervention, 37,065t of which was Irish SMP.
Stumbling block
In November of last year, the European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan said that the amount of SMP sitting in intervention could be a stumbling block in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) negotiations.
“At a time when the next EU budget is being negotiated, I cannot have half a million tonnes of SMP in intervention stores.
"We are entering the key negotiation period for the next European budget, and the CAP is going to come under pressure as never before. You all understand the implications of Brexit, which is blowing a huge hole in the overall budget.”
Hogan said if he is to be in the strongest possible position to defend the CAP budget, he cannot enter the negotiations with thousands of tonnes of SMP in storage.
SHARING OPTIONS: