Export Success for Sheep Meat in 2020
Newly released export data for 2020 has revealed a profitable year for the UK sheep sector, despite a slightly reduced volume of exports and changing consumer trends as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. HMRC’s figures show the value of UK sheep meat exports increased by almost 10%, whilst the total volume amounted to 88,200 tonnes, a drop of 7.2% (or 6,850 tonnes) since 2019, which was a strong year for exports. If compared against 2018 totals, both volume and value of sheep meat exports in 2020 were considerably higher, up 19.1% and 6.1% respectively. The amount of sheep meat imported into the UK fell, by 6.6% to total 58,500 tonnes. Contributory factors to the changes in meat movement include the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and an overall 3.7% decrease in sheep meat production in the UK, alongside post-Brexit uncertainty and global factors such as the ASF crisis in Asia.
Beef Exports Reduced
From March onwards, monthly beef and veal export volumes (fresh/frozen) trended below year-earlier levels for most of 2020. Despite exports during December being up 9.5% on the year at 11,100 tonnes, the total volume exported during 2020 was down by 13.8% at 117,000t. The value also dipped by 17.3% to £384 Million. Shipments to the EU dipped 20%, however non-EU countries experienced a 18.7% increase in volumes mainly due to an additional 1,500t going to Hong Kong.