The Czech Republic's meat imports grew steadily in 2017
Last year's agricultural foreign trade deficit of CZK 30.8 billion (€1.2 billion) was the worst since 2011. The negative balance grew year-on-year by CZK 7.7 billion (€302.8 million), as reported by iROZHLAS.
The Czech meat production in slaughterhouses decreased by 2.5% in 2017, totaling 437,835 tons. The decline was reported mostly in pork production, which accounts for almost half of the country's total meat production. Whereas, the poultry meat production and sheep and goat meat production reported increases, according to Aktualne.cz.
Officials at the Czech Republic's Minister of Agriculture announced recently that the decline in livestock production and only a slight increase in meat prices are not motivating enough for producers in the future.
With a year-over-year decline across all quarters from 2017, the Czech meat production reported its most significant decrease of 3.5% in the first quarter. After that, the decline gradually narrowed down to 0.2% in the last quarter, when the production stood at 114 124 tons.
In 2017, the domestic pork production was down by 4.2% to 211,001 tons. The number of slaughtered pigs decreased by 3.7% last year compared to the year before, totaling 2.3 billion head. According to Aktualne.cz, the decline in pork production was due to lower levels of fattening pigs during the year.
The imports of pigs have reported a slight increase in 2017, up by 1.5% to 263,787 tons, while exports fell to 35,598, down by 3.1%. The Czech Republic mainly imported its pork from Germany, Spain, Poland and Belgium, its largest buyer being Slovakia.
As for the prices of pigs for slaughter, in 2017 they increased by 11.1%. Breeders sold fattened pigs on average for CZK 32.52 (€1.28)/kg of live weight or for CZK 42.27 (€1.66)/kg in meat. The highest price was in July (45.34 CZK/kg or €1.78/kg), then dropped to an annual minimum to December (CZK 38.86/kg or €1.53/kg).
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