FDBusiness.com

According to the latest monthly report on agricultural trade, the value of EU agri-food exports for the 12-month period from July 2015 to June 2016 amounted to just over €129 billion, a 2.1% increase compared to 2014-2015, with notable improvement in sales to the USA (+ €2.2 billion), China (+ €1.8 billion) and Saudi Arabia (+ €0.6 billion). The sectors which have shown the greatest gains over the 12–month period are pigmeat (+ €986 million), wine (+ €511 million) and live animals (+ €502 million), whereas there was a notable decrease from the value of 2014-2015 exports for raw hides and skins (- €1.1 billion), wheat (- €1.0 billion) and milk powders (- €695 million).

Annual agri-food imports rose by 3.5% to €113 billion in 2015-2016, despite a 9.6% drop in the value of imports from Brazil. Tropical fruit, nuts and spices was the sector that showed by far the greatest rise in imports into the EU (+ €1.3 billion), continuing the steady increase seen in recent years, but there were also significant improvement in 2015-2016 for cocoa beans (+ €682 million) and oilseeds other than soya beans (+ €624 million).

Figures for the month of June give an export value of €10.9 billion – the highest June value on record – with the monthly net trade surplus rising to €1.39 billion, relative to €870 million in June 2015.