Is Brazil's turkey industry back on the road to recovery?

2024’s export decline should be simply a blip on the road to recovery for Brazil’s overseas turkey meat sales, but consumption at home, and production, continue to decline.

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Meijer Turkey
Courtesy Meijer

While the Brazilian broiler industry seems to gain greater market share around the world almost every day, spare a thought for the country’s turkey industry. While exports have been on the up over the last five years, output has continued downwards.

Brazil is still ranked as a top 10 producer. It sits, however, towards the bottom of the ranking, very different to when it was the world’s second-largest turkey meat producer, notching up 390,000 metric tons (mt) a year – more than the current second-largest producer, Poland.

The decline in output has slowed from the dramatic reduction in 2018, but recently released figures from the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA) reveal that 2024 was not a good year for the Brazilian turkey sector.

Loss of export markets hurt

It is worth remembering that over half of the country’s turkey meat production is exported, meaning that a significant decline in exports will have a significant impact on the industry, which comprises just two companies of any scale.

This is exactly what happened in 2024 despite an optimistic start to the year. ABPA’s consolidated turkey meat export figures for 2024 reveal that, by volume, exports contracted by 8.1% to stand at 64,100 metric tons (mt), while by value the decline was even more alarming, sliding by 23.4%

Brazil’s sells turkey meat into 79 markets around the world, with 40% of its exports going to the Americas. Mexico was the primary destination last year, but sales there by volume fell by 39%. Sales into Peru fell by 36%. Shipments to South Africa contracted by 27% while, to the Netherlands, exports were down by 20%. One bright spot, however, was Chile, where sales rose by 56%.

Could this be an indication that Brazilian turkey exports are, once again, on a downward trend following five years of growth? Probably not.

Brazil’s turkey meat exports come primarily from three states, with Rio Grande do Sul, accounting for a little over 37% of the total. Rio Grande do Sul, of course, was hit by an outbreak of Newcastle disease last year, leading to a temporary suspension in poultry meat exports. This suspension had a less serious impact on broiler meat exports as numerous other states were able to step in to cover demand that Rio Grande could not meet but, where turkey meat is concerned, this would appear not to have been possible.

Recovery takes time

This decline in exports contrasts sharply with the 17.8% increase in export volumes recorded in 2023, which continued a five-year upward trend. Commenting at the start of 2023, ABPA said it viewed the year ahead positively, particularly where shipments to Europe and the Middle East were concerned, but nobody can predict the future.

The dramatic decline in 2024 will, probably, be a one off. The industry, overseas at least, would appear to be gaining back lost ground, but the contrast with its position a decade ago remains stark, and where production is concerned, there appears to be little sign of a turnaround

The latest production data shows that, in 2023, Brazil produced 133,290 mt of turkey meat. Back in 2017, it produced 390,480 mt and, with exception of 2022, output has declined each year in between. Poland is thought to produce more than double the amount that Brazil currently produces.

The dramatic fall came about as the result of the Carne Fraca investigations, which put some of the country’s largest meat producers under the spotlight, and which saw various markets suspend their imports of Brazilian meat, with turkey being amongst the meats most affected. The European Union (E.U.)’s suspension, then a significant importer of Brazilian turkey meat, had a particularly strong impact.

The Carne Fraca investigations saw turkey slaughterhouse closures and suspensions, but the year was further complicated by truck driver strikes, which caused difficulties for numerous sectors. As in other countries, Brazilian producers have also experienced rising input costs over recent years, along with ever-tighter regulation.

While more than half of Brazil’s turkey meat production is exported, a significant slice of production is sold on the home market. Once again, the sector has encountered difficulties. As in other markets, Brazilian consumers have been far from immune to rising prices, little wonder, therefore, that their appetite for turkey meat has diminished. Between 2020 and 2023, per capita consumption of turkey meat in the country almost halved.


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