NZ lamb exports to UK drop to record low in August
By Tina Morrison
Sept. 18 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand lamb exporters are eschewing the weak UK market in favour of other more lucrative
trading destinations, pushing the volume of meat sent to what was once the nation's biggest export market to a record
low last month, AgriHQ says.
"The UK lamb market is slowly becoming less pivotal to NZ exporters," AgriHQ analyst Reece Brick said in his monthly
Sheep & Beef report. "A steady decline in lamb consumption combined with a loss of economic confidence following Brexit has
resulted in a challenging market environment. Exporters have largely chosen to divert their product to higher-paying
markets, and this will be a strategy that increases over time."
Just 1,274 tonnes of frozen lamb made its way to the UK from New Zealand in August, the lowest monthly volume since
AgriHQ records began in December 2006. Across the months of July and August NZ frozen lamb exports to the UK were down
32 percent on a year ago and were 38 percent behind the five-year average, AgriHQ said.
Similarly, NZ lamb exports to continental Europe fell 11 percent to 2,946 tonnes in August, the lowest level for the
month since AgriHQ records began in 2006, and 22 percent behind the five-year average.
New Zealand exporters have focused on the chilled trade to the UK, which is still achieving very solid prices, Brick
said. Prices for chilled lamb for the Christmas trade is expected to be ahead of last year as customers seek to secure
product following scarcity of supply last year, he said.
Brick said prices in the UK and continental Europe are likely to adjust as supply from New Zealand increases and
production reverts to frozen, but will still remain at historically high levels.
(BusinessDesk)
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