The number of calves exported live last week reached their highest weekly level for at least 23 years.

Department of Agriculture records show 11,381 calves exported in the week ending 11 March 2018, some 4,637 head above the previous week’s levels. The figure is the highest entry since Bord Bia’s online records commenced in 1995 and was helped by a carryover of calves from the previous week, with heavy snowfall curtailing movements. It is also 805 head above the corresponding week in 2017, which at 10,576 head was the highest level of weekly exports recorded in 2017.

The fact that there is strong demand from a number of markets is helping exporters to move higher numbers

There was a good spread in destinations, with the Netherlands and Spain remaining the two primary markets and accounting for 5,106 and 3,534 calves respectively. Exports to Belgium also continue to show significant recovery, with a total of 1,922 calves exported. France imported its second significant consignment for the year, with 568 calves traded, while 182 calves were exported to Italy and 69 to Northern Ireland, 50 of which were females.

Bord Bia livestock sector manager Joe Burke predicts exports will continue to perform strongly: “The fact that there is strong demand from a number of markets is helping exporters to move higher numbers. It is not unusual for the Netherlands and Spain to import such numbers but it is a few years since Belgian buyers were as active and this lift in purchasing should provide a good boost in the total number of calves exported this spring”.

France has also been a steady market for smaller numbers and, while exports there dipped in 2017, it is still an important outlet, as reflected in the graph above. The performance of the Italian market has also been a bright aspect in recent years, with calf exports reaching 8,381 in 2017.

10,000 plus exports required

Last week’s increase brings the total number of calves exported to the week ending 10 March 2018 to 33,077 head, marginally ahead of 31,344 calves exported in the same period in 2017. The highest level of exports in recent years occurred in 2010, when a total of 158,996 calves were exported live.

If markets hold up strongly and trade dynamics allow, there is potential to increase exports in 2018, with expansion in the dairy herd leaving over 300,000 extra dairy-bred calves on the ground.

Central to this materialising, however, is live exporters sustaining volumes leaving at close to the 10,000 mark for a number of weeks. This was the case in 2010 when the volume of calves exported exceeded 10,000 head for a three-week period and 9,000 head for a further five weeks.

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