Germany now Namibia’s biggest source market for pork

Namibia was forced to import at least 60% of its pork needs, despite the fact that 11 363 pigs were slaughtered in the second quarter to produce a total of 1 108 tonnes of pork.

According to the 2023 second quarter statistics report by the Meat Board of Namibia, local pork production could only meet 40.4% of the demand, and 1 631 tonnes were imported.

It said this is regrettable because expectations were that production would increase locally as a result of the ongoing ban on the import of pork, especially from South Africa.

Germany has become Namibia’s biggest source market for pork and pork products during the quarter under review, it said.

A total of 53% of all pork products sourced during this period originated from that country, followed by Spain with a 25.4% market share and the European Union with 11.5%, while the remaining 10.3% was sourced from the South African market, which was predominantly Namibia’s biggest pork market prior to the ban.

“The additional cost of sourcing pork for the local market has over the past couple of months been passed down to local consumers and has consequently made pork pricier within the domestic market.”

The Meat Board said the pork ceiling price has been fixed to N$51.03/kg as a mitigation strategy to counter the negative effects of the dwindling Red Meat Abattoir Association pork price, the current benchmark for Namibia’s pork ceiling price calculation.



Sheep sector grows

Meanwhile, the sheep sector recorded a growth rate of 17.9% in the second quarter of this year, compared to the same period in 2022.

A total of 276 325 sheep were marketed during the quarter under review, relative to the 2022 number of 234 354.

The Meat Board said the improved performance in sheep marketing was driven by a sustained growth in live export of sheep coupled with increased slaughtering at export-approved abattoirs.

Namibian export-approved abattoirs continued paying higher producer prices relative to Northern Cape abattoirs during the second quarter of the year, it added.

On average, Namibian export-approved abattoirs paid N$89.04 per kilogram for A2 grade. This was N$8.38/kg more compared to Northern Cape abattoirs, which paid on average N$80.96 for the same grade.

“This price difference is N$3.40/kg more than the Meat Board-established nominal benchmark difference of N$4.98/kg in favour of Namibian abattoirs.”



Slaughtering increases

The Meat Board added that slaughtering at export-approved establishments increased by 141.4% in comparison to the moderate marketing recorded in 2022.

“This notable growth was reflected within mutton exports that nearly grew by the same margin.”

Mutton exports stood at 379 tonnes by the end of quarter, relative to 179 tonnes exported during the same period in 2022.

On the other hand, mutton imports totalled 53 tonnes in the form of offal during the period under review.

With regards to the goat sector, total marketing of goats increased from 35 538 during the second quarter of 2022 to 37 178 in 2023.

According to the Meat Board, although goat slaughtering decreased significantly by 76.85%, overall marketing increased by 4.6%.

Goat lamb prices at auctions subsided and averaged N$32.06/kg during the second quarter of this year, decreasing by N$7.67/kg from the level observed in 2022.