Beef imports increased but less sharply than some forecasters predicted Less upheaval in trade than had been feared The MLC's latest summary of Customs and Intrastat data offers a useful indication of how the market here is settling down after the worst of the FMD crisis. The general impression is of significant adjustments having been necessary ­ but not the radical upheaval claimed by processors' and retailers' suppliers in the livestock industry, especially the pig sector. In the beef market, imports have increased but less sharply than some high profile forecasters were predicting earlier in the year, and not from the most obvious sources. Although the Irish supplied about 500 tonnes more in August than a year earlier, at roughly 6,500t, the extra landings from all other EU states and from all third countries were about 1,000t in each case. In the sheepmeat sector, the August volume of just 5,800t was way down from almost 8,300t 12 months previously. However this was due mainly to New Zealand supplies shrinking from well over 6,000t to under 4,400t, and talk of the industry out there is of the single month figure as an aberration, with a much smaller decline likely in the rest of the current season. Pork imports were also still artificially reduced in August, heavier supply from Denmark not fully offsetting smaller shipment totals from the Netherlands, Ireland, France and Germany. A correction can probably be expected as output on the continent builds up and some exports from Britain resume over the coming months. The story was similar with bacon, the smaller tonnage from the Netherlands again not being fully compensated for by Danish and Irish deliveries, and in this sector too a return to more normal trading patterns in in prospect. {{MEAT }}

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