Brussels, 21/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - According to the latest report on EU trade in agricultural products, EU agri-food exports in January 2016 were worth €9.3 billion, marginally above the level in January in 2015. However, compared to the high level in December 2015, exports went down in value terms in January 2016.
The figures show that the EU was a net exporter in January - which is not always the case - taking the net agri-food trade surplus for February 2015 to January 2016 to around €16 billion.
Highest increases in monthly export values were recorded for USA, China and some North African and Middle East countries (including Iran). The greatest reductions were for Hong Kong, Algeria, Korea and again, Russia. The highest increases in monthly export values were achieved for pork, vegetables and meat products classified under offal and other meat (livers etc.).
Monthly export values in January 2016 compared to December 2015 went down in particular for hides and skins (down €96 million), milk powders and sugar. In January 2016 agri-food imports into the EU decreased slightly to €9.2 billion from €9.3 billion in January 2015. The highest reduction in monthly imports was from Canada and Brazil, while imports from Ukraine and USA went up.
The report shows that the EU trade balance for olive oil is largely positive, with annual exports worth more than €2 billion in recent years. The EU's main export client is the USA, followed by Japan, Brazil and China.
2015 was an exceptional year, with a particular low harvest in the EU (1.4 million tonnes in 2014-15, 42% lower than in the previous year) and a record harvest outside the EU, in particular in Tunisia, the EU main supplier for olive oil imports. The record imports from Tunisia in 2015 did not impact EU olive oil prices, which were also exceptionally high. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)