The National Association of Meat Industries from Spain (Anice) has warned this Friday that, if the electricity prices continue to rise as in recent months, the meat sector could enter the ‘red numbers’ soon, with losses of more than 500 million euros. The meat industrial sector is one of the sectors that is noticing the rise in energy and feed costs the most. The cost of electricity has gone from an annual average in 2020 of 34 euros / MWh to multiplying by six in one year, with a current price of 207.14 euros / MWh. The energy crisis comes after a globally positive year in 2020, mainly due to the rise in exports.
Last year the Spanish meat industry obtained a total turnover of 28,000 million euros and generated more than 100,000 jobs, most of them in rural areas where livestock activity is also carried out. But that sweet moment may end producers fear if the rise in costs continues for many months. The employer’s association has warned that if electricity prices continue at the same level of escalation as in recent months, the meat sector could face losses of more than 500 million euros, with a cut in results of 70% this exercise. And that in moments of strong demand. The farms that have previously agreed on the sale prices of their products are those that are especially afraid of the impact of rising costs.
The employer Anice asks for support in the face of this situation of uncertainty for the meat industry, which, according to its general secretary, Miguel Huerta, “will negatively affect the competitive capacity of the sector.”
2020, the best year in the sector
Spanish meat production reached a record figure in 2020 in Spain, registering a total of 7.6 million tons, representing an increase of 5.1% compared to 2019, according to data from the cattle slaughter survey of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA). Of the total production, pork continues to be the main category in 2020, with a total of 5,023,534 tons, representing a growth of 8.2% compared to 2019, which represents more than 65% of total production of meat. A good part of that production was for export. Spain has become the fourth largest producer of pork, with 4.4% of world production, and the European Union considered as a whole is the second world producer, with 22.7% of the total. On the contrary, the production of the beef sector has fallen by 2.5% compared to 2019, remaining at 677,296 tons produced. Beef occupies third place in volume, with 8.9% of national meat production, although internationally, in this species Spain is farthest from the top positions in world production, led by the United States and Brazil.
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For their part, sheep and goats have reached 124,467 tons, although their production has decreased by 5.5% compared to the volume of 2019. At the European level, after the United Kingdom left the European Union, Spain has become in the leading European producer of sheep and goat meat, with 15.6% of the total and ahead of France (11.2%), Greece (9.2%) and Ireland (8.4%).
Anice represents the meat industry at the national level, grouping more than 650 companies, in all the autonomous communities, with an important representation of the Spanish meat production. It represents the meat industry in the Spanish Federation of Food and Beverage Industries (FIAB), through which it is integrated into the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) and is also an active member of European meat organizations, interprofessional organizations in the sector , as well as in the Food for Life-Spain Technological Platform, in the Advisory Council of the Food Information and Control Agency (AICA), the Plenary of the Food Chain Observatory and the Sustainable Innovation Group (GIS).
Reference-www.elperiodico.com