Finnish pork exports rebound in March
Finnish pork exporters are back on track with their shipments to China due to fast recovery in demand witnessed in the last month of Q1. According to HKScan’s CEO Tero Hemmila, the Covid-19 epidemic has impacted the company's exports to China in the first quarter of the year. "Planned export volumes to China were not fully achieved, but exports increased from the comparison period. Exports to China returned close to the target level at the end of the quarter. We directed sales to other export markets, which compensated the challenges seen with China at the beginning of the year", he said.
Also, HKScan plans to enter the Chinese market with beef and poultry products as the demand from the Asian country is expected to increase due to a shortage of animal protein caused by the ongoing ASF crisis in the region. "As a result of the epidemic, volatility in the international meat market is expected to continue. We will continue to work closely with the authorities in our home markets to obtain export licenses also for poultry and beef in China", Mr. Hemmila added.
At the same time, Juha Grohn, the CEO of Atria, another Finland-based large food industry company, praised the way the Chinese economy had perked up, also in pork imports. He noted that Atria's deliveries to China in March this year were the highest ever recorded monthly deliveries. "In March, the Chinese economy also perked up as regards pork imports. Atria's deliveries to China specifically in March were the highest ever recorded monthly deliveries. January and February were fairly sluggish sales months. There is demand in China. The exceptional situation in world trade has affected maritime logistics. There is an occasional shortage of sea containers and container ship slots", stated Mr. Grohn.
Although sales have increased in some markets for both companies, their executives noted that the state of emergency and the closure of foodservice are creating an unstable business environment and the future looks uncertain due to issues regarding consumer's purchasing power.
"In the short term, the effects are changes in sales volumes in different sales channels and changes in product selection. In the longer term, the development of consumer purchasing power will also affect food purchases. Consumption of poultry meat is expected to continue to increase, while consumption of red meat is expected to decline slightly. In March, there was a major change in the emphasis of sales channels. Sales to retail increased and Food Service sales decreased. The partial or even complete closure of restaurants, public catering and staff restaurants has a very strong impact on Food Service net sales and Atria's entire product selection. Restaurant food ingredients do not fully find their place in home cooking – steaks are most often eaten in restaurants. Currently, sales balance between retail and Food Service is not optimal", noted Juha Grohn.
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