Ukraine is 2nd largest honey supplier to EU

With 28% of extra-EU honey imports, Ukraine compiting with China (37%).  News from the hives

Honey
Beeld: ©N/A

In order to support Ukraine, for two year the quotas and customs duties on UA honey exported to EU have been cancelled.  After turbulent 2022 Ukrainian market is slowely recovering. In 2023, Ukraine exported 54,500 tons of honey, which is 13% more than in 2022, but 5% lower than in 2021.  In 2020, the export from Ukraine amounted in the recort  81,000 tons of honey. However the average price in 2023 was lower 2,19 $/kg compared to 2,85 $/kg in 2022/ which was partially caused by the pressure on Ukrainian suppliers from hte side of international trader. Competition with China puts Ukrainian honey in the cheap market segment -  raw material, which in the opinon of many maket players in not the right strategy for Ukraine, which should focus on the products with added value. Competition with China entails also high reputation risks for Ukrainian honey industry after the EU-wide coordinated action “From the Hives” on honey contaminated with sugars. The highest absolute number of suspicious consignments reported originated from China (66 out of 89, 74%), although honey originating from Turkey (14 out of 15, 93%) had the highest relative proportion of suspicious samples.

The blockade of sea ports limits the geography of Ukrainian honey exports mainly to EU coutries. Germany, Poland, France, Itay and Spain are the main importers of Ukrainian honey in 2023.

International trade in honey 2023

According to the recent Eurostat report, Germany is the largest importer of honey in EU in 2023.

Imports of honey  comes from the following countries outside of the EU :  China (60 200 tonnes, or 37% of total extra-EU honey imports), followed by Ukraine (45 800 tonnes, 28%), Argentina (20 400 tonnes, 12%), Mexico (10 700 tonnes, 7%) and Cuba (4 700 tonnes, 3%).

Source:

EU imported €359.3 million worth of honey in 2023 - Eurostat (europa.eu)

Заливаємо медом Європу «багато і дешево». Чи змінить галузь стратегію експорту — AgroPortal.ua

JRC Publications Repository - EU Coordinated action to deter certain fraudulent practices in the honey sector (europa.eu)

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According to the data provided, based on the results of 2022, honey ranks fourth in terms of volumes of products imported into the EU and has a share of 9.2% among all organic imports.