Inside Pigs
British bacon imports plummet, what do exporters notice?
The British have so far imported significantly less European pork in 2020. According to data from the European Commission, the import volume is no less than 25% lower than last year. Does this sharp decrease have to do with Brexit or does the corona crisis play a role in this, and what do Dutch bacon exporters notice about this?
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The British usually import a lot of European pork, but since this year significantly less has been imported. Over the first 5 months of 2020, the import volume is no less than 25% lower than last year. In total, almost 323.000 tons of pork were imported. In the same period last year this was almost 435.000 tons.
Corona crisis
If we zoom in specifically on the month of May, the Netherlands comes off badly. Total British pork imports then amounted to 63.600 tonnes, a decrease of 13% compared to 2019. The decrease is largely due to lower imports of bacon and sausage products, this category fell by approximately 25% compared to the same month last year.
Total British imports from the Netherlands stagnated by 44%, from Ireland by 35%, Spain by 20% and Denmark by 13%. Import volumes from Germany actually increased by almost a quarter, but this was insufficient to compensate for the overall decline. British sector experts say the reduced imports are mainly due to challenges in the availability of refrigerated shipping containers, which were in very limited supply at the time due to the corona crisis.
Exporters do not recognize themselves
Even though the figures show that the British imported significantly less pork in the first months of this year, this drop in demand has not been confirmed by Dutch exporters. At Pali Meat they say they have noticed little or nothing of reduced exports. "We still export proportionately as much bacon to England as before," the Den Bosch company said.
According to meat company Van der Mey from Sassenheim, their bacon exports to England in the first 3 months of 2020 were at a comparable level to previous years. However, they did notice a significant decrease in April and May. "Over the months of May and April, significantly less bacon was exported to England, but that was purely due to the corona crisis," a spokesperson said. Volumes recovered in June and July and are said to be acceptable. According to the company, the upcoming Brexit will not affect British import needs.