Europe imports considerably less meat

Meat imports from European member states will probably be lower this year than last year. This puts an end to the years of rising imports. The port of Rotterdam plays a leading role, according to figures from Eurostat.

In the first 3 quarters, Europe imported about 996.000 tons of meat, including by-products. That is a decrease of 12,3%, or 140.000 tons. The import of poultry meat fell by 11% to 605.700 tons, but is by far the largest import flow. The cause of the decline is the recent meat scandal in Brazil. As a result, Brazilian exports to Europe plummeted by almost 20% to more than 309.000 tons.

Rotterdam is gateway
Thailand, the second most important European supplier of poultry meat, also exported 11% less to 196.570 tons. Imports from Ukraine, on the other hand, rose by no less than 60% to 56.540 tons.

Imports of cattle, goat and sheep meat also declined in the first 3 quarters of this year. Imported pork, however, remained more or less the same. However, in terms of volume, this flow is not much compared to poultry meat.

It is striking that the Netherlands is the largest gateway for poultry meat to Europe, as 46% (276.910 tons) of the meat is imported via the ports of Rotterdam. 174.125 tonnes of poultry meat arrived via the United Kingdom, while 80.500 tonnes arrived via the German ports.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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