World meat industry news

Analysis of trade figures shows little change in the volume of pork traded between the 28 EU Member States in 2015.The precise trend is unclear due to some inconsistencies between data from different countries.

Export figures show a 4 per cent rise in the amount traded, in line with the rise in production during the year, but import figures show a small fall. Either way, around 5.5 million tonnes of pork moved between EU countries during the year, nearly a quarter of total EU production (and roughly the same as the annual output of Germany, the EU’s largest pork producer).

Almost 90 per cent of shipments came from the seven largest exporters. Germany remained comfortably the leading seller to other Member States, as well as being the second largest importer. This confirms its central position in the EU pig market.

One country which has increased in prominence within the EU trade over the last year is Poland. Its imports were up 9 per cent, while exports to other Member States rose by 18 per cent, moving it ahead of France in the export league table.

In part, this is because of the loss of non-EU export markets following the ASF outbreaks in the country, meaning it has had to find markets within Europe. Last year, 83 per cent of Polish exports went to other EU countries, compared with little over half two years earlier, before the ASF cases. It sold more pork to most of the EU’s importers, including the UK, which took around 6,000 tonnes more Polish pork than in 2014.