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The Irish beef kill could increase by between 30,000 and 50,000 head in 2018, Bord Bia beef and livestock sector manager Joe Burke has said.
The projected increase is attributed to the growth in male cattle and beef-bred females in the 18- to 24-month age category, Burke has said.
This would bring total throughput to 1.8m head.
In 2017, Irish cattle supplies rose by more than 105,000 head or 6.5%.
The impact of higher cattle supplies was partly offset by a decline in carcase weights, resulting in a total increase in beef exports of 4% to 556,000t.
Irish prices benefited from a strong UK and wider EU trade, with the average base grade (ABG) at €4.01/kg for the week ending 10 December, which was 23c/kg higher than at the same point in 2016.
The UK remains the main beef market, taking around half of all Irish exports in 2017. However, the big growth markets have been in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong and the Philippines.
The USA remains a struggle with USDA year-end import figures showing 2,255t of Irish beef coming into the country in 2017 compared with 2,388t in 2016.
Sheep and pigmeat
Total sheepmeat throughputs reached a 10-year high in 2017, as sheep numbers surpassed 2.9m head. At €4.80/kg, average producer prices were marginally back by 5c/kg on 2016, largely due to an overhang of hoggets.
Exports are estimated by Bord Bia to have reached 56,00t, a 14% increase on the previous year with the value of exports growing by 12% to reach €247m.
The market diversification evident over recent years was largely maintained, with over 45% of shipments destined for markets other than France and the UK in 2017.
Pig throughput was 37,457 ahead of 2016 at 9 December on 3,131,571.
Bord Bia expects Irish pig supplies to stabilise in 2018 despite some decline in the breeding herd in 2016.
Bord Bia will outline its outlook for the meat sector in 2018 at its Meat Marketing Seminar at the Killashee House Hotel in Naas on Friday.
Full report online Friday.
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