The latest sheepmarket data published by the European Commission shows Chinese sheepmeat imports continuing to record lower volumes in 2022.

There was just over 250,000t of sheepmeat imported up until August 2022. This compares to approximately 330,000t for the same period in 2021 as reflected in the bar chart.

Main importers of sheemeat globally. Source: EU Commission Sheemeat Dashboard

Industry insights point to China’s ongoing battle with COVID-19 and its “zero COVID” policy as limiting sales in the food service sector while concerns over a significant slowdown in the economy has also hit consumer sentiment and reduced spending.

The reduction in import volumes comes after several years of rapid growth and is a concern for major exporting nations such as New Zealand and Australia which have become increasingly reliant on the market.

Growth in sheepmeat imports continues at a low but steady rate in the US and this is providing an opportunity for New Zealand and Australia to offset a small margin of sheepmeat previously destined for the Chinese market.

Sheepmeat imports to the EU also increased significantly for the first eight months of the year, rising by 25%, or over 12,056t to reach 56,406t.

Sheepmeat imports

The table below shows the origin of EU sheepmeat imports and the change compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

This dataset excludes imports from the UK, with information not available for the same period. There has been a significant 21% increase in imports from New Zealand while imports from Australia have more than doubled.

This again is being driven by the two countries experiencing lower trading volumes with China.

Global exports

A brief look at global sheepmeat exports shows that the volume of sheepmeat exported for the first eight months of the year increased by in the region 0f 20,000t in Australia to exceed 325,000t while exports from New Zealand fell below the 300,000t mark.

This was underpinned by a continued recovery in the Australian sheep flock while exports from New Zealand have been limited by a contraction in the national flock and lower output.