These increases contributed to a record monthly agri-food trade surplus of €4.0 billion, which is one of the foremost findings of the monthly trade report for October 2019, published today by the European Commission.

Monthly export values experienced the highest increases in China (rising by €655 million), Turkey (up by €108 million), and the Russian Federation (up €96 million). On the other hand, decreases were noted in the EU's exports to Hong Kong (a drop of €45 million), Algeria (a fall of €43 million) and Jordan (down by €35 million).

Increases were recorded in the value of the EU's agri-food imports from Ukraine (up by €95 million), Canada (rising by €68 million), and Argentina (a rise of €58 million). However, there was a reduction in the value of imports from Brazil (a fall of €60 million), the USA (down by €50 million), and South Africa (a decline of €48 million).

In terms of product categories, there was a rise in the export values of pork meat (an increase of €375 million), wheat (up by €171 million), offal (a jump of €85 million), and milk powders (up €64 million). Falls were, however, recorded in the export value of some products, including beet and cane sugar (a decrease of €43 million), non-edible products (down €30 million), olive oil (a drop of €19 million), and essential oils (down by €13 million).

Amongst the highest rises in import values were oilseeds (other than soyabeans) (up by €154 million), tropical fruit (an increase of €108 million), and vegetable oils (other than palm and olive oil) (up €93 million). Meanwhile, import values fell for a number of products, such as oilcakes (a decline of €87 million), wheat (down by €74 million), and coarse grains (a fall of €55 million).