Less risk of closure for UK’s abattoirs - AHDB
Cattle and sheep slaughter capacity in England is less concentrated and more evenly distributed than in the US, meaning it is less likely to be impacted by the covid-19 pandemic, according to the UK's Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
The meat supply chain in the US has been particularly badly affected as workers at meatpackers caught the virus and large facilities were closed. There have also been reports of cases in European meat facilities.
Analysis from AHDB shows that in autumn, UK sheep slaughter is around 75% of its maximum capacity, while cattle slaughter is closer to 85%. The biggest 10 sites account for 50% of cattle slaughter and a different 10 account for 60% of sheep slaughter. Maximum capacity is typically only used on a handful of days each year.
“There is less reliance on single large facilities. This leaves the sector less vulnerable to the closure of even its biggest single site,” said Duncan Wyatt, an analyst at AHDB.
“Given too, this apparent spare capacity in the system, it would probably take the simultaneous closure of the largest four or five sites per species, before throughputs were materially affected.”
