UK: Pork imports on the rise in August

Published Nov 1, 2023

Tridge summary

The UK saw an increase in pig meat imports in August compared to the previous month and the previous year. This growth in imports comes at a time when UK pork production is being affected by market conditions and a decline in domestic supplies. The volume of pig meat purchased through retail and food service has fallen, but food service has seen an increase in volumes, potentially driving the need for imports. The UK's pig meat exports have also declined, with lower shipments to major trading partners and increased competition from other countries.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

Total pig meat imports to the UK for the month of August were recorded at 65,600 t. This is an increase of 230 t compared to the previous month but compared to August 2022, volumes have grown by 4,700 t. Having been in decline for the first four months of the current year, imports have witnessed growth year-on-year from May onwards. UK pork production continues to be impacted by the market conditions of the past two years as domestic supplies remain tight. The English pig population is currently at its lowest in over a decade. The overall volumes of pig meat purchased through retail and food service has fallen by 1.3% year-on-year for the 52 weeks ending 03 September 2023 (AHDB estimates based on Kantar data). Retail volumes remain supressed, back 2.5% in volume terms. However, demand trends have diverged between food service and retail with volumes in food service growing by 7.2%. The food service sector generally has a greater weighting of non-British product, which may be a key ...

Source: Ahdb