The disappointing demand for beef and veal among French consumers in the first quarter of this year has led to a drop in the number of exports to the country from all major beef suppliers, including Ireland.

According to Eblex, the first quarter of 2014 saw 11,000 tonnes of Irish beef exported to the country, whereas some 10,500 tonnes were exported between January and March this year.

This trend was apparent among the other major beef suppliers to the country, Germany, Belgium and Italy, who each saw exports fall by 2,300 tonnes, 100 tonnes and 2,000 tonnes respectively.

In contrast, Poland continued to increase its trade to the French market with shipments up 22%, giving Poland a current market share of 7%. For context, in 2011 the country only had 2% market share.

The domestic demand for beef in France has shown contrasting demands by cut, which has impacted on the development of beef cow prices, which have been consistently low for the past year.

Although the demand for ground beef has been very firm, which in turn has supported the price of dairy cows, there was a decline of 5% in household purchases for other cuts of beef.

Responding to this difficulty for beef farmers, French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll added €2 million to existing aid measures for suckler farmers hit by low margins earlier this month.

Commenting on the extra aid, Le Foll promised to maintain "the government's mobilisation in support of suckler beef farming, which is particulary hit by cash-flow difficulties."

In terms of exports, demand for French beef has been lower on the key markets of Italy and Greece, by 10% and 2% respectively, as competition from lower priced Polish beef grows.

Eblex points out that France's beef market, both in terms of production and consumption, is the largest in the EU so developments there inevitably have consequences for the EU beef market as a whole.