The number of animals slaughtered at slaughterhouses decreased in the first three quarters

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In the poultry group, goose and duck slaughter fell significantly, by 34 and 45 percent, respectively, and turkey slaughter also decreased by 4 percent. According to the summary published on the AKI website, 74,200 cattle were slaughtered in January-September. The live weight of the slaughtered animals was 37.9 thousand tons, and their carcass weight was 9.5 thousand tons. The live weight was 8.6 percent and the carcass weight 8.3 percent lower than a year earlier.

Cattle slaughter in live weight averaged over 4,200 tons per month in January-September 2022

The highest monthly value, that of April, exceeded 4,900 tons. Almost 62 percent of the slaughtered cattle were cows and 19 percent were bulls. Cow slaughter decreased by 7.7 percent, heifers by 5 percent, and bulls by 11.8 percent based on the number of pieces in the first three quarters of 2022 compared to the base period. Based on KSH data, Hungary imported 7.9 thousand tons of live cattle in the first eight months of 2022 in addition to 45.9 thousand tons of exports. The export volume decreased by around 3 percent, while the import volume increased by 5 percent compared to the previous year. Live cattle exports were mainly directed to Poland, Croatia and Austria, more than 53 percent of exports went to these three countries. Imports came mainly from Slovakia, Germany and Croatia.

Fewer pigs were slaughtered

In the first three quarters of this year, 3,357,000 pigs were slaughtered at the slaughterhouses, 6.9 percent or 250,000 less than a year earlier. The live weight of the slaughtered animals was 395,000 tons, and the carcass weight was 318,000 tons, both figures were 7 percent below last year’s base. Pig slaughter in live weight averaged over 43,000 tons per month, the highest monthly value was measured in May, 48,000 tons. The volume of live pig exports remained almost at the same level (+0.5 percent), imports decreased by 8.5 percent in January-August compared to the same period of 2021 (KSH), and turnover decreased further (-5.7 percent). Exports were 21.7 thousand tons, imports 43.5 thousand tons, i.e. imports were twice as much as exports. Live pigs came mainly from Slovakia, Croatia and Germany, and exports were mostly directed to Romania, Austria and the Netherlands in the first eight months of the year.
The number of slaughtered sheep was 31.6 thousand in the first three quarters of 2022, which is a 16 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2021. According to the AKI publication, more than 4,200 ewes were slaughtered.

154.2 million pieces of poultry were slaughtered in the first three quarters of 2022

This is 11.8 percent less than in the same period of the previous year. The live weight of the slaughtered poultry was 468,000 tons, and its cut weight (cleaned, broken down weight) was 354,000 tons. The majority of poultry (85 percent) was chicken, of which 131.1 million were slaughtered, 6 percent less than in January-September 2021. Within the slaughter of poultry, the number of turkeys was 2.9 percent and that of ducks was 9.2 percent. 14.1 million ducks and 2.1 million geese were slaughtered in the first three quarters of 2022. 4.5 million turkeys went to the slaughterhouses in the first nine months, almost 4 percent less than in the same period of the previous year.

MTI