Nortura says the sale of beef this autumn has fallen compared to what they had expected. The warehouses are full. – It is a challenging and somewhat special situation in the cattle market at the moment in the whole of Norway, says factory manager in Nortura Førde, Eivind Fonn. Nortura has to freeze much of the cattle slaughter that is delivered. In a message that the company sent out last week, they apologize to the farmers: “In practice, it is now the freezing capacity that limits the number of cattle that can be slaughtered each week.” Factory manager in Nortura Førde, Eivind Fonn, says that the freezer warehouses are full again. Photo: Ådne Dyrnesli / news The company clarifies that it is normal to have a surplus at this time of year. But Nortura also says that the sale of cattle has declined sharply, and that the surplus that must be frozen is significantly higher than normal. – We have to push a lot of slaughter ahead of us now further into the autumn to catch up, says Fonn. Nortura Nortura is one of the largest food producers in Norway. Gilde and Prior, Nortura’s largest and best-known brands. Nortura is the farmer’s company, a cooperative owned by over 17,700 Norwegian farmers. Nortura has several wholly and partially owned subsidiaries within related businesses in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and England. Nortura offers a variety of raw materials and finished meat and egg products for both the grocery, industrial and commercial kitchen markets. In addition to nearly 17,700 active owners, Nortura has over 30 production sites and more than 5,000 employees. Nortura had a turnover of over NOK 23 billion and left NOK 4.8 billion for society through taxes and fees from employees, owners and subcontractors. Source: Nortura.no Fear of full barns This causes the farmers to react strongly. – It is not optimal in any way, says Anders Felde, leader of Vestland Bondelag. For some farmers, there may be a lack of space, as many will start taking the animals in now that winter is approaching. – For the farmer, it will be very crowded in the barn. In 2018 too, it was crowded. Skude freezer in Karmøy had to make storage available to Nortura. Photo: Rosa Iren Villalobos / news Stream prices provide part of the debt Nortura normally slaughters 4–5,000 cattle a week. They notice that the sale of beef has become lower and orders from industrial customers who buy whole carcasses have decreased. The sale has been reduced by 14–15 per cent this autumn compared to earlier forecasts. The company says that expensive electricity and increased capital costs mean that some industrial customers do not want to sit with a lot of beef in their own warehouses. In addition, there is uncertainty related to the sale of cattle in 2023. The company also has indications that some players have imported a lot of beef this summer. Fonn believes that energy costs play a central role in the lack of storage capacity. – It is expensive to have goods in stock and many refuse to do so, he says. Nortura promises to help farmers who simply do not have room for all the animals. Also in the past there have been full freezer warehouses. It is also now, reports Nortura. Photo: Rosa Iren Villalobos / news Several notice that sales are going down. One of Nortura’s biggest competitors is Fatland, which is also one of Nortura’s biggest industrial customers. They deny that they take in less cattle than before because of high feed prices. – We always have too few cattle. We buy it from Nortura because we need more than we slaughter ourselves, says daily manager Svein Fatland. But they notice that the hall has been somewhat reduced. – It has probably normalized. We had an extraordinary hall in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. But now it has gone down to the level we saw before the pandemic, says Fatland.
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Piling up with beef – farmers are not allowed to send animals to slaughter – news Vestland
