12 October 2022

2 minute read

By: Global Ag Media

According to the EU's most recent short-term outlook report, which is based on reflections of market experts within the European Commission's Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, EU beef exports to high-value markets have improved in 2022. 

In Jan-Jun, EU beef exports decreased by -2.4% compared to the same period in 2021. EU shipments to certain high-value markets such as Canada (+28% in Jan-Jun), Japan (+22%) and UK (+18%) are doing very well despite the high EU prices. 

Other destinations such as Israel are also growing while Bosnia-Herzegovina (-10%), the Philippines (-18%) and Switzerland (-10%) are showing negative trends. Exports to Hong Kong are cut back by 84%, which started already before the price surge in the EU. 

For the whole year, EU beef exports are expected to decrease by 1%, constrained by limited domestic availability and the continuation of relatively high domestic prices and only slightly coming back in 2023.

EU live exports declined by 16% in the period Jan-Jun 2022. Live trade with almost all major partners turned to red (Israel) or became even more red (Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Turkey). On the other hand, shipments to Jordan and newcomer Egypt are evolving positively. 

Overall, a decline of 15% is foreseen in 2022, depending on the level of the beef price. In the first half of 2022, the EU imported 32% or 42 000t more beef than in 2021, mainly driven by an almost doubling of imports from the UK. 

By the end of 2022, EU imports are expected to recover by 25% (after two years of lower imports) due to the reopening of foodservices in the EU, a faster recovery of exports by the UK and Brazil, and additional imports from Argentina.