Under the pressure of excessive capacity expansion and weak consumption, the broiler industry of China's Shandong province must find a way out by stopping relying solely on the export model and switching to deep processing and brand building instead, said Feng Jikang, director of Shandong Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Bureau. Feng spoke at the First Conference on the Development of the Broiler Industry held in Shandong on October 28.
According to Feng, in the midst of the consumption gloom, some farmers withdrew from the market while a handful of broiler companies managed to profit. He called for the transformation and upgrade of the broiler companies to usher in changes of the industry.
Wen Jie, the chief scientist of China’s Technological System of the Broiler Industry pointed out in his speech that judging by the production trends of 2015, the output of broilers in China hits a four-year record low. The number of yellow-feathered broilers showed significant decline compared to year 2014.
In China, chicken is rated as the second most important meat of all meat products, accounting for 15 percent of the total output and 10 percent of the gross production value. By 2020, chicken will replace pork as the most important meat in the world (OECD-FAO). Mr. Wen concluded by saying that in the last 30 years, chicken has been serving as an alternative to pork but in the future it will to a certain extent replace beef and mutton. Chicken will be the meat product with greatest potential.
However, as indicated by Zheng Weixin, board chairman of Shandong Springsnow Food Co., Ltd., currently with each commercial broiler comes a loss of about US$0.47 to US$0.79. The price of chicken breast for instance is US$1,020.50 per ton, decreasing 51.85 percent from last year.
