An Irish livestock company has secured a contract to export 20,000 cattle to Algeria in 2020 with the first boatload to go in two weeks’ time.

It will consist of up to 1,300 slaughter-weight bulls and bullocks weighing 600kg to 850kg, and aged up to 24 months.

Roundwood Park Livestock, based in Co Wicklow, told the Irish Farmers Journal that the first shipment will include beef breeds and some Friesian crosses. Subsequent boatloads will include fattening weight bulls.

The company will send two boatloads in April, with further shipments to follow.

The cattle will be shipped to a number of Algerian customers, including private buyers and state bodies.

Roundwood Park Livestock said it has letters of credit in place for shipments. It is operating the contract along with another Irish company Premium Livestock, which has Algerian connections.

The firm said that the contract provides an outlet for heavier bulls which could otherwise be penalised at slaughter by factories here, on weight or age.

This is the first significant export contract to Algeria since the market was opened to Irish cattle following visits there by Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed and his senior officials, and Bord Bia. Algerian buyers have visited Ireland a number of times in the past two years to look at cattle.

Roundwood Park has been exporting live sheep from Ireland for the past two years. The businesspeople involved also export cattle from France to markets in the Middle East, but plan to operate mainly from Ireland in future.

Meanwhile, Curzon Livestock loaded 1,984 bulls last week at Cork Port for Libya. This was the firm’s second boatload of 2020 and it expects to send further consignments to that market over coming months.