Brazil’s poultry meat exports in the five months to the end of May rose by volume, but were lower by value. Total shipments stood at 1.606 million tons, a 1.2 percent increase from the same period in 2013. By value, however, there was a contraction of 10.3 percent to US$3.1 million.
Despite income for the period being lower than during the same period in 2013, each of the first five months of the year saw sales by value rise. May’s exports by value crossed US$700 million for the first time this year.
While Brazilian chicken exports have performed poorly in large markets, such as Saudi Arabia this year, this has been offset by growing demand from medium-sized markets such as Qatar, Angola and Singapore, the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) reports.
Exports also have been helped by disease outbreaks in receiving markets. For example, exports to South Korea rose by 30 percent after an outbreak of avian influenza there. In Mexico, disease outbreaks in the swine industry have resulted in higher demand for chicken meat, also boosting Brazilian exports.
The main product exported by the Brazilian poultry industry remains cuts, which rose by 5.8 percent over the period to reach 873,100 tons. But exports of whole chickens, the second most important export product, contracted by 4.7 percent to stand at 586,000 tons.
