The EU member states remain the largest importer of Poland’s pork, with 218,000t, or 40.5% of the total, in 2013. China ranked in second place by tripling its imports to 52,000t, a robust increase from only 15,000t in 2012. Last year, Italy was the largest importer of Polish pork among EU countries, with 43,000t, and was followed by Belarus and Russia, with 42,000t and 36,000t, respectively.
Meanwhile, Poland’s pork imports also increased last year. In 2013, the country imported 604,000t of pork, up 1.4% compared with a year earlier. The country’s pork imports are almost 100% from other EU member states, the ARR said in its market analysis.
Last year, Germany was the largest exporter of pork to Poland, with 178,000t translating into 30% of the total, followed by Belgium, with 133,000t, and Denmark and the Netherlands, with 131,000t and 65,000t respectively. Poland’s pork imports were worth a total of just under €1.3bn (US$1.78bn), an increase of 4.6% over 2012, according to figures from the ARR.
In 2013, the significant increase in pork exports allowed Poland to cut its negative trade balance from €474m (US$650m) to €386m (US$529m). In 2009, the country’s pork trade generated a negative trade balance of as much as €699m (US$958m), the agency said.
In December 2013, Poland’s pig population was estimated at about 10.99m head, as shown by data from the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS). This represented a decrease of 1.2% compared with a year earlier.
Headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, the ARR was set up in 1990. The agency publishes market reports based on figures obtained from agricultural databases, the Polish Ministry of Finance and other public institutions.