UK Pork Imports Decrease in December
17.02.2016
Imports of fresh and frozen pork to the UK slightly decreased in volume in December, by 1 per cent on the previous year. However, over the same time period, value fell by 18 per cent to £47.9 million, illustrating how the value of EU pork has decreased over the last 12 months, putting pressure on UK prices.
The latest figures suggest that the UK buyers are sourcing slightly more of their pork from the domestic market than 12 months ago, as the price of UK pork continues to decrease and become more competitive against the European product.
Sausages once again saw an increase in volumes (+13 per cent), bolstered by increased volumes from Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Bacon and processed meats saw more modest increases of 2 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.
UK pig meat trade
|
| December’14 | December’15 | Change, % | Jan-Dec’14 | Jan-Dec’15 | Change, % |
| 000 tonnes | 000 tonnes | |||||
| Imports | ||||||
| Fresh/frozen pork | 32,5 | 32,3 | -1 | 358,1 | 371,4 | +4 |
| Bacon/ham | 21,5 | 22,0 | +2 | 256,2 | 251,2 | -2 |
| Sausages | 8,9 | 10,0 | +13 | 109,3 | 120,3 | +10 |
| Processed | 11,6 | 12,0 | +4 | 139,0 | 140,0 | +1 |
| Offal | 1,0 | 0,7 | -31 | 11,0 | 12,4 | +12 |
| Exports | ||||||
| Fresh/frozen pork | 15,0 | 15,2 | +1 | 181,7 | 186,1 | +2 |
| Bacon/ham | 1,4 | 1,8 | +30 | 13,9 | 15,9 | +14 |
| Sausages | 0,8 | 0,5 | -39 | 10,6 | 9,3 | -12 |
| Processed | 1,2 | 0,9 | -25 | 13,8 | 13,1 | -5 |
| Offal | 3,5 | 6,9 | +98 | 45,1 | 58,9 | +31 |
Source: HMRC, GTIS
Overall UK pork exports saw a very modest increase of 1 per cent in December versus the same period last year (to 15,200 tonnes).
Ireland and China both saw shipments increase in 2015, by 11 per cent and 10 per cent respectively, whilst the Dutch and Hong Kong markets saw UK pork purchases fall by 8 per cent and 24 per cent in that order.
Although smaller in scale, offal exports showed strong growth once again, compared with December 2014, with almost 43 per cent of all offal exports being shipped to the growing Chinese market.
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