São Paulo – The Avian flu outbreak in Saudi Arabia isn’t expected to have an impact on poultry sales from Brazil to the Arab country, the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) told ANBA.
The Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture reported detection of the H5N8 virus in a poultry farm this week. It said the infected birds and those that came into contact with them have since been culled.
The ABPA said Brazil is available to help if the need arises: “Should this prove relevant to domestic supplies, the Brazilian poultry industry is ready to support the Saudi population by stepping in to fill the gap with high-quality halal product.”
Brazil is a major supplier of poultry to Saudi Arabia, which has nevertheless been taking steps to boost its domestic output. October 2019 saw Brazilian food company BRF announce it’ll build a plant in the Arab country.
Last January, Saudi Arabia imported 35,100 tonnes of poultry from Brazil as per ABPA figures, down 9% from January 2019. Last year, China outranked Saudi Arabia in imports of poultry from Brazil. Saudi Arabia imported 469,700 tonnes of poultry products from Brazil, down 3.7% year-on-year.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
