EU agri-food trade surplus continues to grow in February

While the value of EU agri-food exports dipped slightly in February 2018 to just below €10.5 billion, the decline in imports was sharper, falling to €8.7 billion. This increased the trade surplus to €1.7 billion from €1.3 billion in February 2017.

The greatest falls in monthly exports over the past year were for the US (-€60 million), South Africa (-€41 million), the UAE (-€40 million) and Switzerland (-€39 million). The greatest increases in import value over the same period were recorded for Turkey (+€63 million), Brazil (+€19 million) and Singapore (+€19 million). The sectors which saw the greatest falls in export value were vegetables (-€56 million) and vegetable oils (-€51 million). The sectors that saw the greatest growth in export value were sugar (+€60 million) and wine and vermouth (+€44 million).

The greatest decline in value over the past year was seen in agri-food imports arriving from the US, Brazil and Indonesia, while the highest growth was seen in imports from Malaysia and Tunisia. In particular, there were large falls in imports of cocoa beans and vegetables, while imports of olive oil and fatty acids increased the most.