Poultry production for MHP remained mostly stable in 2020, despite a disruption to production in February and March due to avian influenza outbreaks in the Ukraine.
In a recently released trading update for 2020, the company reported that it produced 731,279 metric tons of poultry for the year, up slightly from its production of 728,917 metric tons in 2019. That small increase came in spite of the company not fully utilizing its capacity during those two months. The company noted that there were also several outbreaks of avian influenza in the Ukraine in December, but none of MHP’s poultry complex were affected by those outbreaks, and MHP continued to export poultry meat to all of its major markets, with the exception of banned European Union markets.
For the fourth quarter, MHP produced 189,687 metric tons of poultry, up from the 188,784 metric tons produced in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Sales and exports
MHP’s third-party sales increased 4% during the full year when compared to 2019, driven mainly by a substantial increase in exports during the second half of the year. Exports rose 37% during the third quarter and 8% during the fourth quarter, mainly due to increased sales to the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Exports in 2020 amounted to about 54% of the company’s total sales volume, up one percent when compared to the previous year.
“In general, for 2020, the situation in export markets deteriorated significantly due to several outbreaks of avian influenza at the beginning and at the end of the year 2020, and (the COVID-19 pandemic’s) adverse effect throughout the year,” the company said in its statement.
As a result, the company added, in the 12 months of 2020 the average export price decreased by 6%, “mainly driven by negative price dynamic for animal proteins in different parts of the world, especially in the EU and chicken quarters worldwide.” At the same time, export volumes in 2020 increased by 5% and reached 373,733 metric tons.
