Dairy exporters have shipped slightly more cheese to non-UK destinations than to the British market since the summer, illustrating the sector's ability to diversify ahead of Brexit, according to figures released by Ibec this Monday.

This compares with a 60% to 70% reliance on the UK market for Irish cheese exports in the 30 years prior to 2015.

While cheese exports to the UK have remained steady, there was a 42,000t increase in shipments to other countries in the 12 months to July 2018 compared with the same period in 2015. Ibec analysis shows that half went to other EU countries, 27% went to the Middle East and North Africa, and 18% went to Japan.

Japanese potential

Ireland's share in European cheese exports to Japan has more than quadrupled in the past four years. "There is further potential here for Ireland, with the recent EU/Japan trade deal lowering tariffs on cheese sold to Japan from 30% to zero over the next 15 years," Ibec noted.

The UK remains Ireland's top destination for food exports and that overall category grew by 3%, while other sectors saw their business with the UK decline. "Meat exports grew by 4.9% and while this is positive, it also shows that unlike dairy, this sector is failing to diversify in advance of Brexit," Ibec warned. "This will leave the sector very exposed if no agreement is reached on Brexit."

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