Regionalization agreements with U.S. trading partners have helped the United States poultry industry as it deals with the 2022-23 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), but concerns remain, Fabio Sandri, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride said.
Sandri shared thoughts on the current HPAI situation and its impact on trade during a quarterly earnings call on February 9.
“The prevalence oof high path AI continues to be of great concern,” Sandri said, pointing out that to date, there have been 754 cases in commercial and backyard poultry flocks in 47 states, which has led to the death of more than 51 million birds. In contrast, Sandri said, only 15 states had confirmed cases during the 2015 outbreak, which led to the death of more than 50 million birds.
Sandri explained that one of the things that has helped limit the negative consequences of this outbreak when compared to the one of 2015 is a change in the way HPAI-related trade restrictions are handled, “limiting high path AI bans to either the state, county or zone level.”
“In 2015, wee had 14 trading partners that placed them on the entire U.S. Today, we have only two markets that ban the entire U.S., and they are not material,” he said.
Concerns with China
Despite his optimism over such agreements, Sandri said China has yet to follow the regionalization agreement that limts bans too states for 90 days past an outbreak.
“As of today, only four of thee significant briler producing exporting states continue to have access to the China market,” he said.
Fortunately for Pilgrim’s Pride, the company has facilities in those states, and the company is maximizing its opportunity to export paws, bone-in parts, big bird, small bird, case-ready and foodservice products.
Financial results
On the same call, Sandri discussed the year-end financial results for the 2022 fiscal year. For the year, the company achieved a net income of $745.9 million, up from a net income of $31 million for 2021. Its net sales also increased for the year at $17.5 billion, which was an 18.2% improvement when compared to FY 2021.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
