Last year in December, the European Union exported 9% less pork than in the same month from the previous year, according to the latest figures of Eurostat analyzed by the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
Hannah Clarke, AHDB trainee analyst, said that shipments were 4% below year-earlier levels across November and December, at 370,500 tonnes.
Although China remained EU’s main importer of pork, shipments to this destination declined 13% year-over-year in both November and December, while pork shipments to Hong Kong reported a staggering decline of 63% and 71%, respectively, in the mentioned period.
Shipments to South Korea were down 9% in December compared to a year ago after an increase of 24% in November. Clarke explained that this was a change to the increasing trend that was recorded throughout 2018.
On the other hand, last year overall, shipments increased by 2% compared to the 2017 levels, reaching 2.14 million tonnes. Clarke said that this puts 2018 as the second highest year for EU pork exports, behind 2016.
