Japan – Irish pork exports plunge

Irish pork exports to Japan have collapsed by more than 70% from January to April this year. Bord Bia figures show Irish pork exports to China up to April 2020 stood at just over 1,100t, which is down 72% on the volumes shipped for the same period last year.

Brazil – record beef volumes shipped to China

For the month of May, Brazil’s meat industry set a new record for the volume of beef exported to China. Brazilian beef exports to China for May stood at almost 84,000t, which surpassed the previous monthly export record set in December last year.

US – pork and beef exports hold firm

Despite the COVID-19 lockdown and widespread meat plant closures, US pork and beef exports for April were generally steady. US beef exports in April were just under 100,000t thanks to very strong demand from Japan. US pork exports for April came in at just under 265,000t.

Europe – milk production slows in April

April milk production slowed across Europe. New figures show German milk collections in April were flat at 2.7bn litres, while UK milk production fell almost 2% to 1.3bn litres. Polish milk production was marginally higher at 1bn litres. Irish milk collections were up 3.5% in April to 980m litres.