Turkey reaches agreement with China over chicken meat trade

Turkey will shortly begin exporting chicken paws directly to China. For the January-September period, Turkish poultry meat production is slightly higher year-on-year.

(andrianocz | Bigstock)
(andrianocz | Bigstock)

Following bilateral negotiations over around 10 years, Turkey and China have reached agreement on future chicken meat trade. Starting soon, Turkey will send its first direct exports of chicken paws (chicken feet) to China, reports Daily Sabah.

This will benefit the Turkish poultry sector to a value of US$20 million. Previously, around 52,000 metric tons (mt) of Turkish chicken paws had been dispatched to China indirectly, generating income of US$45-50 million, according to the national poultry association, BESD-BIR. However, the direct trade is worth an estimated US$70 million.

Agriculture minister Bekir Pakdemirli described the agreement with China as an “important breakthrough” for the Turkish poultry sector.

Agreement was reached after Turkish companies met exacting standards over aspects such as food safety, according to the report.

While Gedik Piliç will be the first company to participate in the trade, almost 40 other firms applied to the Chinese authorities for an export license. The association expects other poultry products to be included in the trade in future.

Recent dip in Turkish poultry exports

For the first nine months of 2020, the value of poultry meat exports by Turkey dipped to US$382 million. According to Anadolu Agency, this was a drop of 11% year-on-year. Egg exports dropped in value from US$222 million to US$169 million over the same period.

Between 2017 and 2018 — the most recent years for which figures have been published, Turkey significantly increased exports of all poultry products. The data derive from official source, according to the statistics arm of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, FAOstat.

Chicken meat exports rose to 455,000mt from 405,000mt over this period, as the value of those sales increased from US$515 million to US$553 million. For canned chicken, the latest figures were 24,300mt (US$26.3 million) — up from 16,300mt (US$26.3 million) in 2017. By comparison, exports of Turkish turkey meat are modest — the 9,760mt exported in 2018 was valued at US$14.1 million.

While Turkey does sell small volumes of egg products — both dried and liquid — overseas, the country has been exporting significant quantities of shell eggs in recent years. In 2018, the 361,000mt traded was estimated to have contributed US$430 million to the Turkish economy.

Production of chicken products stable

Latest data from the national statistics agency TurkStat reveals that output from the poultry sector during September was well down on the figure from the same month in 2019. For turkey meat, this represented a decline of 19%. Although production of eggs and chicken meats were down around 4% year-on-year, they registered increases compared to the previous month of August.

For the January-September period, Turkish chicken production was more than 1,612 million metric tons (mmt) — an increase of almost 1% year-on-year, according to the same source. At around 909 million, the number of chickens slaughtered over the same period was up by 0.5%.

At almost 44,800mt, an increase of 5.5% was achieved in the output of turkey meat over the first nine months of 2019. However, the production figure for September was 12% below that for the previous month.

For the year to September, Turkish egg production was more than 14.6 billion — down slightly year-on-year.

As in many other countries, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic impacted Turkey’s poultry industry this year, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). It reports that the closure of hotels and restaurants by the government took place just as the country’s poultry producers usually step up production ahead of the Ramadan holiday and picnic season. With the loss of these markets, stocks built up, and producers eased back on production. The market has not yet returned to balance.

The Turkish poultry sector relies heavily on imports for feed ingredients, such as corn and soybeans. This year, weakness of the Turkish lira (TRY) against the U.S. dollar has increased the cost of these materials, which has held back expansion of the poultry sector.

For 2020, FAS forecasts Turkish chicken meat exports of around 456,600 mt, which would represent a year-on-year increase of 12%.

Prospects for the Turkish poultry sector in 2021

In 2019, Turkey produced 2.13 mmt of chicken meat and 59,000mt of turkey meat, according to FAS. For 2021, it is not expecting the level of growth expected by the country’s poultry sector. Despite strong domestic demand for chicken meat, FAS forecasts that currency fluctuations will constrain output expansion to around 5%.

Looking ahead to 2021, FAS forecasts Turkish chicken meat exports will expand by a further 10%, which would take the volume to just over 500,000 mt.

Page 1 of 1576
Next Page