October 5, 2009
Eastern EU countries decrease Brazilian pork imports
The largest Eastern European countries might lose its status as the main importers of the Brazilian pork this year, due to the effects of the global economic recession causing the sharp decline in demand for expensive imported pork.
According to media reports, Russia and Ukraine, until recently, being the leading importers of Brazilian pork is no longer able to buy it in the same amounts, forced to develop its own pig breeding industries.
In this regard, the Brazilian exporters are already eyeing some other opportunities abroad. The main interest may be the Chinese market, as well as the US and Mexican markets.
In 2008, the total exports of Brazilian pork declined 14.4 percent to 625,000 tonnes; however, in value terms they increased 25 percent to US$1.5 billion due to higher average export prices.
Despite the sharp drop in demand, Russia still remains the largest importer of Brazilian pork, although the proportion of the Brazilian pork in the total pork imports amount continues to decline.
The second largest importer is Hong Kong, whose share rose from 17 percent to 20 percent, while the third is Ukraine (9 percent). The other large markets for the Brazilian pork are Angola, Argentina, Moldova and Singapore.
