Pork imports in Jan-Jul increased twofold

In January-July 2018, Ukraine imported 12.2 thou. tons of pork for the amount of USD 22 million. The imported volume is twice as higher than the last year's. The Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine (APU) informs that the current export of pork is 10 times lower, therefore, according to the results of January-July 2018, Ukraine's foreign trade balance turned negative and reached USD 20 million.

"Over the second month of summer, 30% of the total supplies of fresh, chilled and frozen pork were imported. The reasons for this activation in July was the fact that purchasing prices throughout the period exceeded the barrier level (the price boundary, exceeding which imports become economically justified) in the context of a low domestic supply of pork," the APU comments.

The cost of imported pork fat in Ukraine was almost equal. Thus, in the reporting period, 32.3 thou. tons were imported from the EU countries, which is 25% more y-o-y.

Reference: in the first half of 2018, domestic meat processing enterprises produced almost 118 thou. tons of meat products. This indicator is 5% higher y-o-y.