EU compensates for dramatic drop in Ukrainian maize imports and increases agri-food exports to Africa

Imports of agricultural products from the EU reached a value of €13.5 billion (1.2% less than in March), giving an agri-food trade balance of €4.4 billion for April 2022. This is a decrease of 16% month-over-month. Overall, trade flows from January to April 2022 are significantly higher than the corresponding period last year, with exports increasing by 10% and imports increasing by 28% due to high world prices.

Today's report also focuses on the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine for agribusiness in April 2022. As a result, maize imports from Ukraine have dropped dramatically in March and April (-35% over one year), as are those from Serbia (-77%). Maize imports from the United States, Canada, Moldova and Brazil have partially compensated for this supply chain disruption. Notable month-on-month increases were seen in exports to Ukraine and sub-Saharan Africa. To Ukraine, there was a 93% increase from March, with particularly strong growth in exports of pork, poultry, flour and flakes. The growth in exports to sub-Saharan Africa concerns oilseeds (+83% in volume), cereals (+27%) and cereal preparations (+14%). Looking at specific product categories, the value of grain exports grew the most in the first four months of the year, increasing by 26% or €1 million. Cereal preparations and milling products (+15%) and dairy products (+13%) also saw notable growth. Exports of pigmeat and horticulture, however, fell by 24% and 3% respectively. This was due to the continued reduction in demand for pigmeat exports to China and lower demand for horticultural products in the UK and Russia. More information on the latest EU agri-food trade figures can be found here and on EU agri-food trade in general here.