Boneless product continues to dominate UK pork imports

Annual (Jan-April) accumulated volumes were 102.2 thousand tonnes in natura/frozen condition, 59.8 thousand tonnes (58%) boneless and 39 thousand tonnes (38%) with bone.

In April, the UK imported 25,300 tonnes of fresh/frozen pork. Of this total, 15,300 tonnes (60%) were non-bony material, while 9,000 tonnes (36%) were bone-in material. Annually (Jan-April) accumulated 102.2 thousand tonnes in natural/frozen condition, 59.8 thousand tonnes (58%) without bone and 39 thousand tonnes (38%) with bone.

This indicates that we continue to use overseas slaughter capacity, which began in early 2020 as a result of the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK and nearing the end of the Brexit transition period.

Both events have hit our domestic butchers hard, with skilled staff falling ill or deciding to leave the UK.

However, with UK pork production forecast to end down 15% year-on-year, domestic processing capacity is currently facing an economic rather than a capacity challenge; The restructuring we have seen in the processing sector is a sad testament to this.

Exports, imports do not see the same change in product categories as the bone product has always been dominant. In April, the UK exported 10,100 tonnes of fresh/frozen pork, of which 5,400 tonnes (53%) were bone-in and 1,300 tonnes (13%) bone-in. Year to date (January to April), 44,800 tonnes of fresh/frozen pork have been exported from the UK: 24,100 tonnes (54%) bone-in and just 5,700 tonnes (13%) bone-in.

However, in the last 5 years there has been a change in the target of production in exports.

Historically, most of our fresh/frozen pork exports have been sent directly to the EU, but the ASF outbreak in China in 2018 led to higher import demand, with China overtaking the EU. In 2021. This is reversed in 2022 by a myriad of factors, including the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in Europe and the UK, while the Chinese government’s Covid-zero policy has limited demand there.

This seems to be a trend that will continue till 2023 even if the zero covid policy is scrapped. China’s import demand has not returned to pre-pandemic levels as domestic output rises and a slow economic recovery leaves consumers feeling tight about their disposable incomes.