EU pork exports reached record levels in October, led by a doubling of shipments to China, according to AHDB Pork.
Total export volumes for the month reached 182,300 tonnes, 7% above the previous record level which was achieved in October 2014. The Japanese market also performed strongly, taking over 40% more EU pork than a year before.
“Between them, China and Japan accounted for over half of exports during the month, compared with less than a third last year,” said AHDB Pork.
Apart from the US, most other major buyers of EU pork took significantly less than a year before, with particularly sharp falls to South Korea and Hong Kong.
With the decline in prices slowing through in euro terms, however, the value of October exports rose by just 3% on the year, to €413 million (£300m).