September 27, 2017

EU pork exports down 16% in July

EU pork exports in July were down 16% year-on-year, dragged down by a 45% decrease in exports to China.

Pork exports in July amounted to 159,000 tonnes although it was just shipments to China that disappointed. China, however, remained the largest market for the EU, according to AHDB Pork.

July exports to Japan, the second-largest market, were up 11% year-on-year. Sales to other Asian markets also performed well with South Korea, Hong Kong and Philippines up by 14%, 17% and 28%, respectively.

Of the other top 10 markets, exports to the Congo doubled over July last year to 2,300 tonnes, while shipments to the Ivory Coast were up 26%. Exports to the US increased by 43% to 8,900 tonnes, although they were 13% less than in June 2017.

In January-July EU exports were down 14% given the 38% fall in trade with China but with increases to most other markets.

Pig offal exports were not so much affected by the slowdown in the pork trade, and remained fairly static in July against the previous year, falling by less than half a percent to 101,000 tonnes.

While volumes to China fell by 14% on the year earlier to 56,000 tonnes, shipments to other key Asian markets increased. Hong Kong and the Philippines, the second- and third-largest markets, took 42% and 34% more than a year ago. Among smaller markets, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan all took more.

In January-July 2017 the offal trade held up somewhat better than for pork being just 6% lower than a year earlier. Taking all pig meat products into account, including offal, the total value of EU exports in July was €603 million (US$706.95 million), nearly 5% down on July 2016.