Exports
si 
BELGIUM, Brussels. Pork exporters in the European Union have no grounds for complaint about any lack of demand this year. According to figures issued by the EU Commission, in the first six months they sold 2.09 mill. t of pork (including by-products and live animals) to third countries. This was 636,000 t, or 44%, more than in the same period last year. 2016 is therefore looking increasingly likely to surpass the export record of 3.67 mill. t posted last year.
China, with its increased demand for imports, accounts for the largest share of the booming export business. EU suppliers delivered nearly 985,000 t to the People's Republic in the first half of the year; exports to China have thus increased by 527,500 t (115%) compared to the previous year. Levels of orders received from the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong were also high and, at 178,650 t, pork orders from the European Community rose by over 50%. But Japan has also placed more orders with EU suppliers in the year to date, purchasing over 20% more goods at 187,700 t.
Exports to the Philippines also rose, with sales to this market increasing by almost a third to 114,200 t compared to the first six months of 2015. The United States, the third largest producer of pork in the world, also dramatically increased its imports from the Community: by 40% to just under 64,800 t.
Among the major clients, only South Korea bought less pork from the EU in the first half of 2016 than in the same period last year. Exports there fell by over 14% to 112,350 t.
Source: afz 35/2016