Increased pigmeat production in Germany in the first half of 2015 has resulted in the country exporting more and importing less, with UK suppliers suffering lost trade along with many others, according to AHDB Pork.
While Germany was a relatively small direct outlet for the UK, at 14,700 tonnes for January to June 2015, the trade still endured an 8% year-on-year decline in business, on top of facing increased competition for sales in other markets.
With total German pork exports rising by 18,000 tonnes in the six-month period, to finish on close to 845,000 tonnes, the biggest competitive impact was felt in the non-EU sector.
By far the biggest individual sales growth was to China with exports into that market more than doubling to 64,600 tonnes. This offset small export reductions to other markets.
On imports, meanwhile, Germany’s January-June total was the lowest for a decade at 460,000 tonnes, a fact which affected all major suppliers. Import value also declined sharply, falling by almost a quarter to €693 million (£507m).