Plant and flower exports from Holland to the UK have fallen by 2% to the end of September 2018; this may be because of the fall in the value of sterling.
Holland’s top ten export customer countries showed a decline of almost 2% compared with last year. The biggest fall of exports of 6% was to Italy. Exporters have blamed political instability and hot weather for the decline in exports; the poor state of Italy’s economy may mean that customers are less inclined to buy luxury products such as cut flowers.
Dutch exporters anticipate that there may be import tariffs after Brexit; this may encourage the use of British grown plants and flowers in the UK.
The value of exports to Russia rose 11% for the year up to September. Poland is now the fifth most important export country and seems to be growing in importance.