IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘China – Cream Fresh – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

Cream imports to China soared +21% y-o-y to 194K tonnes in 2020, which equated to $625M. Over the past decade, China boosted cream imports manyfold, from only 7.1K tonnes or $20M in 2010 to the present figures. New Zealand remains the key cream supplier to China, accounting for 53% of the total Chinese imports in physical terms. In 2020, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and New Zealand featured the highest growth rates regarding cream export volume to China. Last year, the average cream import price in China grew by +2.5% to $3,216 per tonne compared to the figures of 2019.

Cream Imports into China

In 2020, the amount of cream imported into China rose to 194K tonnes, jumping by +21% from the previous year. In value terms, cream imports soared from $506M to $625M (IndexBox estimates) in 2020. Over the past decade, China boosted cream imports manyfold, from only 7.1K tonnes or $20M in 2010 to the present figures.

In 2020, New Zealand (102K tonnes) constituted the largest supplier of cream to China, accounting for a 53% share of total imports. Moreover, cream imports from New Zealand exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest supplier, France (43K tonnes), twofold. The UK (12K tonnes) ranked third in terms of total imports with a 6.3% share.

In 2020, the volume of cream imported from New Zealand rose by +16.6% y-o-y. The remaining major supplying countries recorded the following average annual rates of imports growth: France (+6.4% y-o-y) and the UK (-2.9% y-o-y).

The Chinese purchases from Spain increased twofold, from 5.1K tonnes in 2019 to 11.7K tonnes in 2020. Imports from Germany grew from 4.5K tonnes to 7.6K tonnes over this period. Belgium doubled its cream exports to China from 2.4K tonnes to 4.6K tonnes. Imports from Ireland increased from 4.4K tonnes in 2019 to 5.7K tonnes in 2020.

In value terms, New Zealand ($348M) constituted the largest supplier of cream to China, comprising 56% of total imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by France ($137M), with a 22% share of total imports. It was followed by the UK, with a 5.6% share.

The average cream import price in China stood at $3,216 per tonne in 2020, rising by +2.5% against the previous year. Average prices varied somewhat amongst the major supplying countries. In 2020, the countries with the highest prices were New Zealand ($3,409 per tonne) and France ($3,222 per tonne), while the prices for cream from Germany ($2,596 per tonne) and the UK ($2,855 per tonne) were amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by the UK, while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced more modest paces of growth.

Source: IndexBox Platform