Italy's Pig Meat Trade Gap Widens
ITALY - While Italian imports of pig meat were higher in the first nine months of 2013 than the year before, its exports declined.
24 January 2014
2 minute read
By: Italy is the EU's largest net importer of pig meat, reports the German meat association, VDF.
Imports of fresh and frozen pork for the first nine months of 2013 increased to 697,200 tonnes - 2.8 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year. The figure is well below the 729,600 tonnes imported during that period of 2011, however.
Germany's share of Italian imports over the period rose by three per cent to 34 per cent of the total at 239,300 tonnes, maintaining its number 1 position. The increase over the same period of 2012 amounted to 24,000 tonnes, equivalent to almost 11 per cent.
Other EU pig meat exporters to Italy - the Netherlands, Spain, France and Denmark - lost ground, with their volumes down between one and four per cent each.
Compared to imports, Italy exports relatively little fresh and frozen pig meat. For the period January to September 2013, the volume exported was 56,300 tonnes, seven per cent less than the same period of the previous year.
