Ukraine's pork import slid by 37% in April
Pork imports to Ukraine declined for the second month in a row, with external pork shipments falling by 32% in March and 37% in April, the Association of Pig Breeders of Ukraine (APU) informs.
In April, fresh, chilled and frozen meat import totalled 1.48 thou. t, the dollar value was USD 3.05 mln.
"This indicator is 0.9 thou. t or 37% below the volumes imported in the previous month and 33% less than pork imports in March in monetary terms. A smaller discrepancy in the total customs value of imported pork is due to a further increase in the weighted average cost per kilo of imported products. Thus, in April, the amount rose to USD 2.06 per kg, adding 9 cents," the Association specialists comment.
As reported, more than 57% of imported products in April is meat from Denmark, 18.4% from Poland. There was a slight increase in imports of pork from Spain (almost 11% of total imports) in April.
"Canadian pork deliveries, while slightly more active than in March, were significantly behind the trade activity of the winter months, with 5 containers weighing 121 t in April vs. 14 and 368 t, respectively, in January and 24 deliveries of 0.6 thou. t combined in February," APU analysts say.
The commodity structure of imports in April was more uniform than the month before: in mid-spring, 7 different commodity items were imported compared to 12 in March. Fore-end and cuts remain the most popular item for importers (42% in the structure, or more than 600 t per month), 22% was other frozen deboned pork, 12% frozen hams and cuts.
Analysts of the association mark that the decrease in pork imports in April occurred against the background of a pre-holiday recovery in the domestic live stock market, higher pork prices in EU countries than a month earlier and continued upward movement of Canadian pork prices.
Previously reported that the import of pigs from the EU to Ukraine was banned as a result of ASFV spread.
