United Kingdom: Monthly beef trade increases but remains subdued during the year

Fresh Whole Beef

Frozen Bone-In Beef

Fresh Boneless Beef

Meat

United Kingdom

Published May 23, 2023

Tridge summary

According to the latest HMRC trade data, UK fresh and frozen beef imports came to 19,170 tonnes in March. Compared to February this was a month-on-month (MOM) increase of 19.0% (3,060 tonnes). Whilst all product categories saw MOM increases, increased imports of fresh and frozen boneless beef drove the overall trend, increasing by 1,820 tonnes (20.6%) and 1,080 tonnes (21.8%) respectively MOM.

Original content

Year-on-year (YOY), imports were down by 2,780 tonnes as both fresh and frozen imports eased on the year by 970 tonnes (-6.9%) and 1,820 tonnes (-22.7%) respectively. This was due to drops to imports from Ireland and the Netherlands, and most notably from Germany where shipped volumes fell by 69.2% (-1,240 tonnes) YOY. Whilst imports of fresh beef continue to dominate total beef imports making up around two thirds of beef import volumes, frozen imports saw a much larger YOY drop overall. This was driven by declines to frozen boneless beef volumes, specifically from Ireland (-550 tonnes, -12.3%) and Germany (-880 tonnes, -63.4%). This all contributed to year-to-date (YTD, Jan-Mar) imports easing by slightly over 5,000 tonnes YOY, at just 52,920 tonnes. With YTD imports down 8.7% YOY and down 9.5% compared to the 5-year average, this is higher than the expected trend of a 2% reduction in import volumes this year as demand eases. The UK exported 8,950 tonnes of fresh and frozen beef ...

Source: Ahdb