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Trends and forecasts
agricultural and food industry competitiveness.
For a year after the EU accession, Poland transformed
from a net importer of agricultural and
food products into an important net exporter.
A significant growth in the level of investment
which was stimulated, by
among other reasons, the use of EU aid
programmes and counterpart funding
and has resulted in significant improvement
of the technical and technological
conditions of food production as well as
food industry productivity.
It has been also reflected in the increase in the
competitiveness of Polish food industry. There has
been a processes of production concentration
influenced the economic strength of the firms
operating in the food industry, thanks to which,
the subjective structure of the sector has become
similar to the average structure of that of the EU-
15 food industries.
As a result of Polish agriculture’s accession to
the EU the meat industry has become one of the
most prominent of the developing sectors of the
Polish food economy. This has been influenced by
an increase in meat consumption and national
demand, a considerable growth of foreign trade,
an increase in meat products and the structural
changes and modernisation of the sector.
Also as a result of Poland’s accession to EU
there was a reconstruction of the institutional
framework in which producers of milk and milk
processors had to operate. New rules changed
both the instruments of public intervention and
quality requirements conditioning the sale of
products on the market. Polish producers and
processors have fulfilled all these new conditions.
It has been instrumental in establishing a
competitive milk processing sector. An expanding
tendency for milk production and prices
resulting from the significant demand for this
product, noted since 2009, has lead to a further
strengthening of Poland’s position as an important
market leader on the EU milk market.
The number of plants certified to trade on
the Single Market has grown dynamically. For
example, in 2009, 45 meat and 24 milk processing
plants, and, in 2008, 822 meat and 277 milk
processing plants, respectively, were certified.
Additionally companies operating in the agricultural
and food industry sectors continue to show
considerable investment activity. Investment
growth that began in 2003 has been continued
until the present. In the period 2006-2009 the
average annual level of investment amounted
to about 7-8 billion PLN per year, which was a
real increase by 40-50% in their value in comparison
to the period 2000-2002. Companies from
the food industry concentrate their investment
expenditure on the modernisation of their production
potential and on increasing its effectiveness,
which allows for a stable improvement of
the competitiveness of the sector.
It is not an understatement to state that Poland
has at its disposal one of the most modern
food industries in Europe with its products fulfilling
all EU quality standards.
Adam Poślednik, Agnieszka Więcek
Agricultural Policy Analysis Unit, Foundation
of Assistance Programmes for Agriculture(FAPA),
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Polish foreign trade in agri-food
in the first half of 2011
The value of turnover (total value of exports
and imports) in the Polish external trade
in agri-food products in the first half of 2011
amounted to EUR 13,013 million and was 14%
higher than in the corresponding period of
2010.
Export
In the period January - June 2011, the value of
sales of agri-food products abroad totaled EUR
7,078 million and grew by 12.9% compared to
the same period in 2010 (Chart 5, page 61).
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Autumn 2011