However, over the same time period, value fell by 18 per cent to £47.9 million, illustrating how the value of EU pork has decreased over the last 12 months, putting pressure on UK prices.

The latest figures suggest that the UK buyers are sourcing slightly more of their pork from the domestic market than 12 months ago, as the price of UK pork continues to decrease and become more competitive against the European product.

Through 2015, the reverse has been true at times, with UK buyers looking to source cheaper EU product, so this may be an early indication of a shift in this behaviour. During the month, increases seen in import volumes from the Netherlands and Spain were largely negated by a significant fall in German imports.

Sausages once again saw an increase in volumes (+13 per cent), bolstered by increased volumes from Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Bacon and processed meats saw more modest increases of 2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively, with higher bacon shipments from the Netherlands counteracting reduced volumes from Denmark. German shipments of processed meat supported the increased volumes seen in this category.

Overall UK pork exports saw a very modest increase of 1 per cent in December versus the same period last year (to 15,200 tonnes). For the year in total, there was also a slight growth in export volume, of 2 per cent, despite the exchange rate disadvantage UK exporters faced during the year.

Ireland and China both saw shipments increase in 2015, by 11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, whilst the Dutch and Hong Kong markets saw UK pork purchases fall by 8 per cent and 24 per cent in that order.

Although smaller in scale, offal exports showed strong growth once again, compared with December 2014, with almost 43 per cent of all offal exports being shipped to the growing Chinese market.