Search our website enhanced by Google.
October beef trade volumes remain below last year
Thursday, 17 December 2020
By Charlie Reeve
UK beef trade stills remains down on last year for both volumes of imports and exports.
For the month of October, imports were down 8% and global exports were down 31%. This now puts imports and exports down 6% and 10% respectively based on the first ten months of trade of 2020.
Despite this decrease in trade, domestic beef prices have remained relatively high during the past few months compared to recent years.
Imports
Beef imports for the year to date (first ten months) were down 16,000 tonnes compared to the previous year. The only major exporting country to buck this trend was Brazil, which increased export volumes to the UK by 2,200 tonnes (12%) year-on-year.
The value of total beef imports has also decreased based on the first ten months of trade this year, down by 3% to total £958 million.
Imports during October were down 2,300 tonnes on the previous year to total 26,700 tonnes. The UK imported 1,400 tonnes less from Ireland in October compared to the previous year. However, Ireland was still the largest exporter of beef products to UK accounting for 67% of total beef entering the UK.
In more recent weeks, there has been some speculation in the industry that more beef is currently being imported from Ireland in the run up to the EU-Exit deadline of January 2021, in order to avoid potential tariffs and delays. We will have to wait and see if this view is supported by the data when trade data for November and December becomes available in the new year.
Exports
UK beef exports were valued at £41 million for the month of October, this was down by £18 million (30%) compared to the same month last year. For the year to date up to October, exports have been valued at £423 million, a decrease of 13% on the previous year. This reduction in values is fairly in line with the reductions in volumes being exported.
Looking at volumes, less exports have been sent from the UK to most of the major export destinations of UK beef. Based on the first ten months of trade the UK has exported 19,000 tonnes (15%) less beef to the EU-28, totalling 107,000 tonnes. Fresh/chilled beef has seen the largest reduction with a 23% reduction in export volumes year-on-year.
Sign up for regular updates
You can subscribe to receive Beef and Lamb market news straight to your inbox. Simply fill in your contact details on our online form.
While AHDB seeks to ensure that the information contained on this webpage is accurate at the time of publication, no warranty is given in respect of the information and data provided. You are responsible for how you use the information. To the maximum extent permitted by law, AHDB accepts no liability for loss, damage or injury howsoever caused or suffered (including that caused by negligence) directly or indirectly in relation to the information or data provided in this publication.
All intellectual property rights in the information and data on this webpage belong to or are licensed by AHDB. You are authorised to use such information for your internal business purposes only and you must not provide this information to any other third parties, including further publication of the information, or for commercial gain in any way whatsoever without the prior written permission of AHDB for each third party disclosure, publication or commercial arrangement. For more information, please see our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice or contact the Director of Corporate Affairs at info@ahdb.org.uk © Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. All rights reserved.