Where does pork fit in the export top 10?
18th Aug 2017 / By Alistair Driver
Pork is the UK food and drink industry's ninth biggest export product, according to figures released today showing record food and drink export levels for the first half of 2017.
Overall UK food and drink exports grew to £10.2bn in the first six months of this year, up 8.5% on 2016 and a record for the first half of the year, the figures from the Food and Drink Federation show.
The UK's top three export products are whisky, salmon and beer, with pork ranked in ninth place. Pork exports have grown consistently in recent years, reaching record levels in 2016, driven by a 47% rise in exports to China.
The latest data shows a small (2%) year-on-year drop in export volumes in the first six months of 2017 to 107,000 tonnes, due to a combination of weaker Chinese demand and tight UK supplies. In June, despite a 5% drop in export volumes compared with a year ago, the value of UK pork exports was 11% higher compared with June 2016 due a rise in unit prices.
Pork also saw a 23% year-on-year increase in import volumes during the period.
For more on this story, see Pig World