Agriculture - 4. quarter of 2006

Meat production went down by 3.7% in the 4th quarter of 2006 y-o-y. Milk collection decreased by 2.7%.
It was produced 630 794 tonnes of meat in carcass weight in 2006, which was less by 2.3 % compared to 2005. This amount included 53.1% of pig meat, 12.6% of beef meat incl. veal and 34.3% of poultry meat. Milk collection dropped by 5.9% y-o-y.
Number of slaughtered cattle incl. calves decreased by 3.7% y-o-y in the 4th quarter of 2006. Average carcass weight of cattle remained unchanged compared to the 4th quarter of 2005 and amounted to 292.4 kg. As a result beef meat production (inc. veal) decreased by 3.7% y-o-y.

Number of slaughtered pigs went down by 1.6% y-o-y, while their average carcass weight went up by 1.3% to 88.4 kg. Pig meat production slightly decreased - by 0.4% y-o-y.

Poultry meat production went down by 8.7% y-o-y compared to the 4th quarter of 2005.
Agricultural producer prices of cattle for slaughter rose in each cattle category excluding prices of heifers for slaughter in the 4th quarter of 2006 y-o-y. Prices went up by 0.6% for bulls for slaughter, by 0.1% for cows for slaughter and by 1.9% for calves for slaughter. Prices of heifers for slaughter went down by 0.2% in this period.

Agricultural producer prices of pigs for slaughter went down by 0.9% y-o-y. The same prices of the 1st-quality chicken for slaughter decreased by 7.9% y-o-y.
Milk collected to dairies amounted to 557.9 mil. litres in the 4th quarter of 2006. Milk collection went down by 2.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.
Agricultural producer prices of milk went down by 5.4% y-o-y.
It was produced 630 794 tonnes of meat in carcass weight in the Czech Republic in 2006, which was less by 2.3% compared to 2005. This amount included 334 695 tonnes of pig meat, 79 233 tonnes of beef, 479 tonnes of veal, 199 tonnes of sheep meat, 77 tonnes of horse meat and 216 111 tonnes of poultry meat.

Pig meat production went down by 0.8 % compared to 2005. The production kept on decrease in all quarters of the year excluding the 2nd one. This quarter saw a moderate recovery in pig meat production (index 101.6).

Agricultural producer prices of pigs for slaughter reacted to demand and were declining y-o-y throughout the year. Prices slightly climbed up only in August, September and October. The average price of pigs for slaughter went down by 1.9% in 2006 y-o-y. The average price of the 1st-quality pigs for slaughter reached CZK 31.81 per kilogram in live weight and CZK 41.22 per kilogram in carcass weight in 2006.

According to the livestock census as of 1st April 2006 cattle population decreased by 1.3% (by 36 ths. head) compared to the 1st April 2005, of which sow number went down by 1.5% (by 3.5 ths. head). The reduction in pig numbers led to decrease in supply of pigs for slaughter on the domestic market. A lower supply of domestic origin pigs were partially offset with increase in imports of this commodity. According to the preliminary results of foreign trade statistics, imports of pigs for slaughter went up more than twice y-o-y in period from 1st December of 2005 to 30th November 2006. On the contrary exports fell by 13%. Exports of pigs for slaughter in total amounted to 13 652 tonnes and imports totaled 2 277 tonnes.

External trade ¹⁾ in live pigs ended in surplus of 8 978 tonnes in a period from the 1st December 2005 to the 30th November 2006. Exports of live pigs in total (for slaughter and piglets) amounted to 14 514 tonnes and imports totaled 5 536 tonnes. Pigs were imported from the Netherlands (34%), Denmark (28%), Germany 26%) and Slovakia (12%). Imports went predominantly to Slovakia (52%) and Germany (36%).

External trade ¹⁾ in pig meat production ended in passive trade balance 92 452 tonnes in the same period. Exports of pig meat went up by 6.2% and imports increased by 3.7% y-o-y. Pig meat was imported primarily from Germany (39%), Poland (22%) and to a lesser extent from Austria (12%) and the Netherlands (9%). Exports went largely to Slovakia (75%) and to a lesser amount to Germany (10%).

Beef incl. veal production decreased by 1.6% y-o-y. Meat production kept on a slight decreasing in each quarter of the year. The highest decrease in meat was recorded in the 4th quarter (by 3.7%).

Prices of agricultural producers of cattle for slaughter differed in each cattle category. Prices of bulls for slaughter went up y-o-y throughout the year. The highest increase in prices was recorded from January to April of 2006. Prices of heifers for slaughter rose in a similar way but were down by the end of the year (in November and December). Prices of cows for slaughter climbed up throughout the 1st quarter however from April started to go down slightly. A further increase in price saw December. Prices of calves for slaughter fluctuated significantly in 2006. An increase in prices was recorded in January, February, May, July, September, November and December. The highest decrease in prices of calves for slaughter saw August (index 93.4). The average price of both, bulls for slaughter and heifers for slaughter went up by 1.4%, for calves for slaughter went up by 1.0%. On the contrary the average price of cows went down by 0.3% y-o-y.

The average price of bulls for slaughter the 1st-quality reached CZK 41.89 per kilogram in live weight and CZK 77.29 per kilogram in carcass weight in 2006.

Supply in cattle for slaughter on market, both domestic and external origin, affected prices of cattle. According to the livestock census conducted as of 1st April 2006 cattle number went down by 1.7% (24 ths. head) compared to the 1st April 2006, of which cow numbers in total decreased by 1.7% (by 10 ths. head). According to the preliminary results of external trade1) in a period from the 1st December 2005 to the 30th November 2006 imports of cattle for slaughter decrease by 19.9% (by 205 tonnes) y-o-y, whereas imports went up by 6.9% (by 1 298 tonnes).

External trade ¹⁾ in live cattle (cattle for slaughter and calves) in period from 1st December 2005 to 30th November 2006 ended in surplus of 38 182 tonnes. Imports amounted to 39 181 tonnes and imports totaled 999 tonnes. Imports decreased by 38.4%, while exports went up by 8.8%. The highest amount of live cattle were imported from Slovakia (75%), a lesser amount went from Germany (11%). Exports went to Austria (33%), Germany (19%), Greece (10%), Italy (9%) and Hungary (9%).

External trade ¹⁾ in beef ended in a passive trade balance (–13 980 tonnes) in the period from 1st December 2005 to 30th November 2006. Beef imports went down by 5.0% (by 849 tonnes) whereas exports went up by 41.6% y-o-y (by 625 tonnes). Beef was imported predominantly from Poland (35%) and Austria (20%), to a lesser extent from Slovakia (9%) and Germany (9.%). Beef exports went largely to Slovakia (46%), Austria (32%) and to a lesser extent to Germany (12%)).

Poultry meat production went down by 4.7% in 2006 y-o-y. The production started to decline y-o-y from the 2nd quarter of 2006. December saw the highest decrease in poultry meat production (index 84.2).

Prices of the 1st-quality chicken for slaughter kept on decreasing throughout the year. The average price declined by 9.0% y-o-y. The average price of the 1st- quality chicken reached CZK 19,18 per kilogram in live weight in 2006.

External trade ¹⁾ in live poultry ended in a surplus of 16 651 tonnes in the period from 1st December 2005 to 30th November 2006. Imports of live poultry amounted to 10 789 tonnes and imports totaled 27 440 tonnes. Imports of live poultry went down to a half, whereas imports increased almost twice y-o-y. The highest amount of live poultry (91%) was imported from Slovakia. Exports went predominantly to Germany (39%), Poland (38%) and to a lesser extent to Slovakia (13%).

External trade ¹⁾ in poultry meat ended in a passive trade balance –39 081 tonnes. Imports in total amounted to 59 609 tonnes and exports totaled 20 528 tonnes of poultry meat. Poultry meat imports went up by 4.6% y-o-y, on the contrary exports went down by 27.8%. Poultry meat was imported mainly from Poland (24%), Brazil (12%), the Netherlands (11%) and Germany (11%). Exports went predominantly to Slovakia (56%) and Germany (21%).

Poultry number decreased by 0.7% to 22.7 mil. heads as of 30 September 2006, of which hen numbers went down by 4.9% to 5.6 mil heads.

Milk collection to dairies amounted to 2 330 million litres in 2006, which was less by 5.9% compared to 2005. Milk quotas have limited milk production (and also dairy cow numbers) since accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union. Milk quotas of the 2005/2006 year amounted to 2 604 mil. litres. According to the livestock census as of the 1st April 2006 dairy cow numbers went down by 2.0% to 424 ths. heads.

Agricultural producer prices of the Q-quality milk went down y-o-y throughout all months of the year. The average price of the Q-quality milk went down by 4.9% y-o-y and reached CZK 7.82 per liter in 2006.

External trade ¹⁾ in milk and milk products ended in active trade balance 471.1 thousand tonnes in the period from 1st December 2005 to 30th November 2006. Exports of milk and milk products went up by 5.5% and imports increased by 51.6% y-o-y. Milk and milk products were imported in particular from Slovakia (38%), Poland (27%) and Germany (26%). Exports went predominantly to Germany (59%) and Slovakia (18%).


1) For Intra-Community trade excl. data under Intrastat statistics threshold (annual value of goods -CZK 2 mil. for receipt, CZK 4 mil. for dispatch)

2) Text not edited for language

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Methodical note:
Contact person: Jiří Hrbek, phone 27405 2331, e-mail: jiri.hrbek@csu.gov.cz
Source: full survey carried out by the Czech Statistical Office, Agricultural Producer Price Indices in December 2006 (CZSO).
Milk collection and purchase of poultry – survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Date of completing data collection: 10 January 2007
Date of completing data processing: 24 January 2007
These data are final.