Exports in December less than a quarter of last year’s levels
by Neil Murray @NeilatFOODNEWS neil.murray@informa.com

China exported just 21,108 tonnes of AJC in December 2018, compared with nearly 90,800 tonnes in the previous December. This is a catastrophic decline.

Exports to the US were barely 2,200 tonnes, as Polish, Ukrainian and Turkish exports piled into the US market with product that was both plentiful and cheaper than Chinese production. In December 2017, exports to the US were just under 34,000 tonnes.

Exports to Russia, always a market that seeks out the lowest prices, fell from 10,400 tonnes to just 220 tonnes while sales to the Netherlands, 7,000 tonnes in December 2017, were just 185 tonnes. Only exports to Japan, at 4,760 tonnes (5,010 tonnes in December 2017) and South Africa at 3,850 tonnes (4,280 tonnes) were anywhere near the levels of last year.