The suppliers of the Falkland Islands Meat Company (FIMCo) will be eligible for assistance through an FIG scheme, it was announced through a press statement on January 7. The support is in the form of £10 of compensation from FIG per head of mutton which cannot be processed by FIMCo, but does not make payments for cull sheep.
More than 40,000 animals were processed during the last Falkland Islands Meat Company season. FIMCO Operations Manager Dave Roberts commented that the 2017 export season began with the staff arriving on January 21. A high percentage of them returned from previous seasons to the Sandy Bay plant.
Falkland Islands meat industry is suffering the pains of growth and of international markets’ volatility, according to the latest number of sheep and cattle processed in the EU licensed local Sand Bay abattoir. However the quality and quantity of lambs produced continues to advance.
Uruguayan lamb and mutton exports during the first 10 months of 2010 fell 40% to 11,628 tons compared with the same period in 2009, while average export prices increased 50% to US$4,766/ton as a result of strong demand.