The economic research group of Bancolombia, the largest Colombian private bank that also has a presence in other countries in the region, recently issued a report about the imminent adjustment in chicken meat production in this Andean country. The same is being considered by swine producers.
The information was released in a report by the Medellín newspaper El Colombiano, in which it is stated that “the compulsory lockdown to contain the advance of the coronavirus has led to changes in volume and purchasing behavior of pork and chicken in the country.”
The article suggests that the lower dynamics in the hotel and restaurant channels have affected meat consumption, "which translates into a reduction in sales and an impact on the demand of both proteins, with a greater impact on chicken, because it is chicken … with the highest participation in this channel.”
This is explained by the lower relative cost of chicken meat, which "makes it intensively used in street food stalls and points of sale known as ‘corrientazos,’ of great relevance in capital cities," a situation that has previously been pointed out the Colombian poultry federation Fenavi.
"Bancolombia analysts explained that from gestation to slaughter, the swine sector cycle lasts approximately 40 weeks, while chicken meat production period is of only 10 weeks (including incubation)."
As a consequence, “this means that in the case of the poultry meat business, if the quarantine lockdown is maintained with restaurants closure, the local supply would be adjusted to a lower rate more quickly, if reprogramming of orders with suppliers or with their own genetics business units is feasible.”
Unofficially, some decisions have been known from poultry producers in Colombia and the rest of the continent, aimed at reducing the production of chicken meat in the coming weeks, among which would be the reduction in incubation and the expansion of the production cycle in commercial layers.
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