The deceleration of EU pork exports continued in June, with volumes down 25% year-on-year at 158,300 tonnes.
This equated to almost 80,000 tonnes less than the month 2016, and was also almost 6,000 tonnes lower than in May this year. Despite higher average export prices, influenced by the higher EU pig price, the value of these exports was 21% lower than in June last year, at €404.9 million.
The volume of exports to China were the primary driver behind the overall decline, falling 59% year-on-year in June.
This meant that China’s share of the EU pork export market reduced to 31%, 20 percentage points less than a year earlier. Exports to Hong Kong were also notably slower (-40%) than in June 2016, while exports to Japan showed a more modest decline (-4%).