Brussels, 23/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Despite the Russian ban on the import of EU agricultural products, EU agri-food exports to third countries increased by 5% in value in the period August 2014-April 2015 compared to the same period of the previous year, according to updated information provided on Monday 22 June (see EUROPE 11329).
European agri-food exports to third countries have increased by 10% in the month of April 2015 compared to April 2014. This is due to an increase of exports to the US and China - and partially to the weakening of the euro.
Inevitably, as a result of the embargo, agri-food exports to Russia fell sharply from €8.6 billion in April 2014 to €5.0 billion in April of this year (-42%). This was the result of the nearly complete disappearance of exports within the banned product categories and a slight increase for products not subject to the ban.
The EU managed to compensate the losses in export sales to Russia by increasing exports to most of the main destinations. Major gains in export values were achieved in the US (up 15% from August 2014 to April 2015 compared to August 2013 to April 2014), China, which is now the second export destination (up 26%, including a 64% rise in the month of April 2015) and on other key Asian markets such as Hong Kong (up 27%) and South Korea (up 32%). Also, agri-food exports to Turkey increased by 27% over this period. (Lionel Changeur)