Rabobank: EU, UK having biggest impact on global trade

The biggest impact on global poultry trade so far in 2020 has been a sharp drop in imports to the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (U.K.), according to the most recent Rabobank Poultry Quarterly report.

Roy Graber Headshot
(Yurii Bukhanovskyi, Bigstock)
(Yurii Bukhanovskyi, Bigstock)

The biggest impact on global poultry trade so far in 2020 has been a sharp drop in imports to the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (U.K.), according to the most recent Rabobank Poultry Quarterly report.

The report pointed out that EU and U.K. imports dropped 12% on a year-over-year basis for the first six months of 2020.

As a result, countries that traditionally export poultry meat into those European markets – such as Brazil, Thailand and Ukraine -- have been heavily impacted by this reduced trade, and have faced problems in finding alternative markets.

Presently there are high volumes of poultry in cold storage in Europe due to COVID-19-impacted inventory building in April and May, lessening the need for imports.

Ukraine was hurt by this trend more than any other country, as its exports to those European markets dropped 31%. Exports from Brazil and Thailand dropped 10% and 7%, respectively.

Other market matters in Europe

The European poultry industry is presently challenged to adequately balance supply and demand amid the current volatile markets, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In the first wave of COVID-19, during March-May, foodservice demand in Europe dropped sharply due to restrictions on people movements, and the flow-on-effect on out-of-home eating. At the same time, demand at supermarkets increased sharply, in most markets by more than 20%. The sudden drop in demand and changing of channels led to sharp price drops.

“The gradual easing of restrictions since June led to foodservice demand recovering, although it is still down by more than 50% in some channels.”

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