China cut meat imports from the EU

 Pork exporters from the European Union sold significantly fewer products to third-country buyers in the first quarter of 2022 than in the same period last year.

The culprit was CHINA 's import demand , which has now fallen again. According to the EU Commission, a total of 1.14 million tonnes of pork, including by-products, were exported to third countries by the 27 member states, excluding trade with the UK, down 459,400 or 28.7% from the same quarter. last year. In addition, EXPORT earnings fell by 977 million euros, or 28.5%, to 2.46 billion euros.

The main reason for the decline was a frank collapse in pork exports from the EU to China, which fell by 605 thousand tons, or 63.1%, to 353.3 thousand tons. An increase in domestic pork production in China by 14% in the first quarter of 2022 in coupled with weak demand due to lockdowns has led to lower demand for imports. In addition, from January 1, 2022, the import tariff rate was increased from 8% to 12%, and due to falling prices in China, imported goods were relatively expensive. All this led to the fact that the export revenue of EU suppliers in the Chinese business "collapsed" by 1.38 billion euros to 641 million euros compared to January-March 2021. Beijing Customs Administration's initial data for April shows no improvement, with pork imports still about two-thirds below the previous year's level.

In other countries, however, Community pork exporters have managed to sell significantly more products. For example, sales to Japan, the second most important buyer, increased by 58.6% to 123,900t compared to the first quarter of 2021; The Philippines follows with a 23.8% increase to 119,100 tons. Cooperation with SOUTH KOREA and Australia has been even more dynamic, with exports doubling to 102,900t and 50,000t respectively. In addition, importers from the US , Taiwan and the Ivory Coast also purchased more goods from the EU. However, exports to Hong Kong declined sharply, as did those to China . Ukraine also entered the TOP-10 buyers of pork from the EU. Compared to the first quarter of 2021, shipments there increased by almost 18% to 24,290 tons.  

Spain remained the largest pork exporter to the EU with 417,300 t; however, this is about a third less than in the first quarter of 2021. Denmark recorded a lower than average 19.8% decline in sales to third countries to 218,100 t; Meanwhile, Germany reported a 43.7% decline in exports to 75,100 tonnes. After the Netherlands, the Federal Republic is still the fourth largest pork exporter in the EU, despite numerous export bans due to African swine fever (ASF). ).  

By the end of the year, pork exports from the EU are unlikely to increase compared to last year. Analysts expect output to fall significantly from a year earlier as pig numbers decline and producers will suffer serious losses if prices are not high enough due to the sharp rise in production costs. In its spring forecast, the EU Commission assumed a drop in production compared to 2021 by about 700,000 tons, or 3%, to 22.91 million tons. tons of pork.