France reports another decline in its pork exports
Abigail Schofield, AHDB trainee analyst, says that the decline in French pork exports may be due in part to lower production levels.
Eurostat figures indicated a decline by 2% in pig slaughterings in 2017, down to 23 million head compared to 2016. "Although France exported less for the year as a whole, more pork was exported in the final quarter of 2017, in line with the wider EU trend," says Schofield.
Last year, compared to 2016, China imported less French pork due to the ongoing recovery of Chinese domestic production. From being the main destination for the French pork shipments, in 2017 China imported 42% less pig meat from France compared to the previous year. The AHDB analyst says that despite this situation, China still remained a significant destination for French pig meat, occupying 11.5% of the market share in 2017.
The export decline to China was partially offset by an increase to other markets, notably exports to Italy increased by 28% returning Italy to the main destination for French pork in 2017. Exports to other main markets including; UK, Greece and Belgium were all down on the year.
Talking about the French pig herd, Abigail Schofield says that, as of 1 December, it increased by over 2% year-on-year, to 13 million head, according to data provided by Eurostat.
"The overall increase was driven by a 3% increase in finishing pigs between 20-110kg, supporting reports of production growth in recent months. With numbers of piglets also up 3%, supplies should remain ample in the short term."
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