A positive market environment has been forecast for Irish beef, with global demand expected to increase further in 2025 as economic growth positively influences consumer sentiment and spending on beef, according to Bord Bia.
In a beef market outlook for 2025, the senior manager of the meat and livestock team at Bord Bia, Joe Burke told Agriland that tighter supplies of beef in Europe and the UK “will underpin a positive market environment”.
Commenting on trends seen in the Irish beef sector in 2024, Burke explained that Irish beef supplies were impacted by lower carcase weights, which were down by an estimated 5%.
Despite the reduction in carcase weights, the stock carryover from 2023 to 2024 lifted the total supply volumes of beef for export.
On prices, Burke said “the average EU young bull price reached €5.58/kg for the year to early December, compared with €4.96/kg in the same period of 2023”.
“By comparison, Irish R3 steer prices averaged €5.13/kg during 2024 to date, which represents a 3% improvement year on year”.
The UK was the strongest market for Irish beef in 2024, with primary exports growing by 2% in value to €929.3 million by September 2024. Burke said that the trade was helped “by improved consumer demand and improved import levels in Great Britain”.
The Bord Bia senior manager said that Irish beef exports to Continental Europe also “performed well” in 2024 with “good demand for forequarter, mince and manufacturing beef while higher-value cuts such as steaks also improved later in the year”.
He noted that the volumes of Irish beef exported to the Netherlands increased by 13% in 2024 and the volume of Irish beef exported to Sweden increased by 6%.
Outside Europe and the UK, Irish beef exports to international markets also grew significantly in 2024, reflecting an overall increase in global import demand and beef import prices with the standout markets here including the Philippines and Japan.
In the first nine months of the year, exports to the Philippines had grown by 44% to nearly €22 million. Exports to Japan had more than doubled by September, to reach €8.6 million. As of September, beef exports to mainland China were just under €10 million.