Poultry production in the European Union could grow by 2 percent, or 240,000 metric tons, to 13.8 million metric tons in 2015, and this increase could continue into 2016.
According to the European Commission, low feed prices and the impact of avian influenza in the U.S., have supported European chicken meat producers, and allowed the recovery in production that was witnessed last year to continue.
During the first quarter of 2015, net European broiler meat production increased by 4 percent, with the biggest rises being recorded in Poland and Spain.
After sharp prices increases last year, 2014 has seen chicken meat prices in Europe become relatively stable
Improving trade balance
The EU’s poultry meat exports rose by 5 percent over the first four months of 2015, with increased sales to Asia and the Africa more than making up for lost sales to Russia. By the year's end, the commission predicts, Europe’s exports could be 6 percent higher than those recorded for last year, and stand at 1.4 million metric tons. This growth, however, is expected to slow in 2016 as the U.S. starts to re-enter lost markets and Brazil continues to gain greater access to various overseas markets.
Europe’s poultry meat imports over the first four months of this year were 8 percent lower, with imports from Brazil declining by 20 percent. Imports from Thailand however, rose in comparison with last year. The return of Thai poultry meat to the European market may mean that the overall decline in Europe’s imports of poultry meat in 2015 is reduced to 3 percent.
