WARSAW: Beef exports in Poland have seen a sharp increase in the first nine months of 2015, with shipments to the UK showing the biggest growth, writes Shane Murphy.
Poland, much like Ireland, relies heavily on exports when it comes to beef. A country 10 times the size of Ireland in area, it produces 373,000t of which 323,000t is exported. This ranks Poland as the second largest exporter in Europe after Ireland.
According to the UK meat marketing body AHDB Beef & Lamb, Polish exports for the first nine months of 2015 were up by 23%. While consistent growth was shown throughout the year, it was the third quarter which seen the most growth, increasing by 34%.
Shipments to the UK saw the largest increase, up 75% in the first nine months of 2015, which amounted to 11,100 tonnes. This means Poland, now the third largest supplier of beef to the UK, has a market share of 5%.
While the zloty relative to sterling will have helped competitiveness, Poland still managed a 14% increase in the unit tonne value of its beef trade with the UK.
