EU Pork Exports Slowing Down
EU - EU pork exports appear to be slowing down, according to latest figures released by Eurostat. Since hitting a new record in June, shipments had fallen back nearly a quarter by August, to stand at 180,000 tonnes.This is the lowest level since February but remains higher than any month before the start of this year.
It was also 27 per cent higher than in the same month last year. The drop in shipments is largely due to a slowdown in sales to China, although they remain well above last year’s level.
Exports to China were up by two-thirds compared with August 2015 but this is much less than the near-trebling of volumes in the first half of this year.
Sales to other Asian markets remained strong too, with exports to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines all higher than a year before.
Offal exports have been less affected by any slowdown, with shipments in August up 18 per cent on the year, a similar rate of growth to that seen in the rest of the year.
Greater China now accounts for over three-quarters of total sales, with mainland China taking over 60 per cent. Among smaller markets, Korea and Thailand took more EU offal than a year before but the Philippines and Vietnam took less.
The higher EU pig price was reflected in increased unit prices for pork exports, compared with last year.
As a result, the value of shipments during August was up by nearly a third year on year, to €411.3 million. Taking offal and other pig meat products into account, the total value of exports was €639.1 million, 28 per cent up on August 2015.