Made in Italy agri-food exports soar in 2019, +6.6% on 2018 in the first two months

Despite international tensions and skirmishes concerning duties between the US, the EU and China, 2019 seems to have started out with a bang for Made in Italy agri-food exports. And, especially in the USA, notwithstanding the verbal crossfire between Trump and the European Union, while in the UK, they are waiting for the knots linked to Brexit to get untangled. The analysis of the CIA-Italian Farmers Research Department on ISTAT data has made this evident, and according to it, in the first two months of 2019, compared to the same period in 2018, exports grew 6.6% on a trend basis, reaching 6.7 billion of euros (+1% for agricultural products and +7.8% for food). And, at the same, the deficit of the Italian agri-food trade balance was reduced 38%, while imports increased +1.3% (+ 5.2% for agricultural products and -0.5% for food), to 7.2 billion euros. The CIA explained that sales of agricultural products, Italian food and beverages, especially on the two “historic” markets for Italian products drove the boom in agri-food exports. In the USA, which is the third commercial outlet for Italian agri-food, the annual increase came close to 17%, while in Great Britain (fourth reference market), growth reached more than 10%. According to the analysis of the CIA – Italian Farmers Research Department, this race to supply products reflects the fears and concerns of importers in countries that, in the first months of the year, were at the center of scaremongering and political tensions on international trade. In the USA, it is Trump threatening more duties, and across the Channel, in England it is the political impasse in the management of Brexit.