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FoodDrinkEurope reports small increase

30 Aug 2016

In its Economic Bulletin for Q1 2016, FoodDrinkEurope reports that EU food and drink industry production increased by 0.5% and hence reversed the downward trend of the previous quarter.

FoodDrinkEurope reports small increase

In its Economic Bulletin for Q1 2016, FoodDrinkEurope reports that EU food and drink industry production increased by 0.5% and hence reversed the downward trend of the previous quarter. Industry turnover increased by 0.3% from the previous quarter.

The year-on-year comparison shows that food and drink industry turnover performed better than total manufacturing turnover (0.1% vs. -0.6% compared to Q1 2015), FoodDrinkEurope said. Total manufacturing production growth outperformed food and drink industry production (2.1% vs. 1.2% compared to Q1 2015).

Food manufacturing prices decreased by 0.6% in Q4 2015 and Q1 2016, and were 1.1% lower compared to Q1 2015.

In external trade, the EU trade surplus was supported by continued strong sub-sector performance, reaching €5.8 billion in Q1 2016. Extra-EU exports of food and drink products totalled €23.3 billion in Q1 2016 (Q1 2016/Q1 2015: +2.2%). The top five products with the largest share in export value generated €11.1 billion in Q1 2016 (meat, dairy, wine, spirits, processed fruits and vegetables).

The report notes key factors being the increase in sugar prices and palm oil quotations more than offsetting the decline in dairy product prices, but points out that the FAO price index still remains below the level of previous years. In Q1 2016, EU and world markets prices for most agricultural commodities decreased compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, prices for sugar and palm oil increased. The year-on-year comparison shows that the prices of most commodities have declined compared to their Q1 2015 level, except for sugar and cocoa.