The monthly EU trade flows of agricultural and food products reached a record value of €36.5 billion in October 2022. In spite of increased imports, the EU trade balance remains positive at €5 billion.
The share of EU agri-food imports has increased, reaching €15.7 billion in October. This represents a 3% difference from the previous month. Higher prices for soya meals, rapeseed, wheat, and sunflower oil resulted in this growth. Brazil and Ukraine are the top two countries for EU agri-food imports. Imports from Brazil decreased by 17% in October 2022 compared with the previous month. However, imports from Ukraine increased by 25% that month with maize, sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, and rapeseed representing 70% of EU imports.
Volumes of imported palm oil decreased by 16% compared with the same period in 2021 while imports of maize increased by 66%.
While experiencing a slight monthly decrease of 1.2%, EU agri-food exports remain strong with a value of €20.7 billion. There was a 3% increase in exports of products to China in October including a 16% increase in pigmeat and an 8% increase in pig offal. In the first ten months of 2022, EU exports to the US reached €24.4 billion. This is 29% higher that the three-year average for the same period. Similarly, EU exports to the UK from January to October 2022 for a value of €39.5 billion are 15% higher than in 2021.
January 31, 2023/ European Commission/ European Union.
https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu