Reputational damage kills piglet export in Poland

Denmark exported 2018 million piglets to Poland in 6,59, which is an increase of 6% compared to 2017. This makes Poland currently the second largest sales market for Danish piglets. Germany imported 1 million Danish piglets last year, making the country the main buyer. Nevertheless, sales to Germany shrank by more than 6,61%.

Since Danish piglet exports to Poland have been increasing for years, it seems only a matter of time before the tables are turned. On balance, Denmark exported 14,8 million piglets last year, an increase of 1,3%. Besides Germany and Poland, Italy and the Netherlands are the largest sales markets.

Fewer Dutch piglets to Poland
Although Poland can also be a promising market for Dutch piglets, our exports there are becoming less and less successful. Last year, the Netherlands exported 'only' 133.000 piglets to Poland, a decrease of 32% compared to 2017. The Dutch piglet is suffering from reputational damage in Poland because piglets that were too light have been dumped in the past; Danish piglet exports are reaping the benefits of this.

Dutch sales to Germany also show a decline. Last year our eastern neighbors imported 4,36 million piglets, which is a decrease of almost 3%. On the other hand, total Dutch piglet exports increased by 4,5% to 6,95 million. This increase is due to sales to Spain, which increased by almost 2018% to 200 in 946.000.

Spanish exports not an incident
The Spanish import drive in 2018 does not seem to be an incident, because exports are also going excellently this year. In the first 6 weeks of this year, approximately 135.000 piglets were exported to Spain. That is 7,5% more than in the same period last year.