Pork exports decline
AHDB Pork has revealed that UK fresh and frozen pork exports are counteracting the recent increasing trend, decreasing by 7% to 14.3 thousand tonnes in July 2016, compared to the previous year.
There was a 19% decrease in shipments to Germany; a key destination for cull sow meat, and exports to Denmark were back 74% on July 2015. Chinese shipments, however, showed no signs of slowing, with volumes up 62%. Despite this drop, overall exports for the year to date were still up 20% on last year.
“The value of these exports was up 11% on the year earlier, largely driven by the value of Chinese shipments more than doubling on the same period last year. This was supported by the strong pig price currently being recorded in China,” Bethan Wilkins, trainee analyst at AHDB, explained.
Offal shipments continued to grow, up by 2% year-on-year, to 4.8 thousand tonnes. This growth occurred despite a decrease in volumes to China, as these were offset by increased shipments to Hong Kong and the Netherlands – largely for re-export to the Far East. Bacon, sausages and processed meats all showed decreases in export volumes, largely due to decreasing demand from Ireland, which is one of the primary destinations for these products.
“Imports of fresh and frozen pork continued to increase, up 12% to 36.6 thousand tonnes, compared to July 2015. Similar to the previous month, this increase was driven by Danish imports, which almost doubled compared to the previous year,” Wilkins added.
“Increases in offal imports were also recorded, particularly from Poland, with volumes increasing by almost 16%, while bacon, sausages and processed meats all reported decreases in import levels.”
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