São Paulo – Brazilian exports of poultry increased 13.8% in H1 over the same period of last year, according to data released this Tuesday (12) by the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA). From January to June, the country shipped 2.26 million tons abroad, with Saudi Arabia as the main destination.
Dollar revenues from exports tumbled 1.25% to USD 3.38 billion, but revenues in reais climbed 21.7% to BRL 12.4 billion. For the year, ABPA is forecasting exports to be 8% higher in volume.
“There’s great expectation with maintaining the sales level to China (consolidated as Brazil’s second largest poultry importer), besides the good pace of shipments to the Middle East and other Asia countries, such as Japan and South Korea”, said ABPA’s CEO, Francisco Turra, in a statement released by the association.
In the first half, the Saudis imported 379,700 tons of poultry from Brazil, corresponding to 17% of the total. China came in second with 11.5% and 256,400 tons, followed by Japan with 9.7% of the total with 215,100 tons. The fourth largest buyer was the European Union with 9% and 200,300 tons, with the United Arab Emirates placed in fifth with 159,200 tons, amounting to 7.1% of all exports.
In the top 15 list of buyers, there are other Arab countries besides Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with Kuwait in eighth, Egypt in ninth, Oman in thirteenth and Qatar ranked in the fourteenth place. In all, these six Arab countries imported 738,000 tons of poultry in Brazil from January to June, 32.5% of the total shipped abroad in the period. The Saudis increased their purchases in 6%, the UAE in 10%, Kuwait in 8% and Egypt in 40%.
In June alone, poultry exports went up 4.1% in volume over the same month in 2015, with 411,900 tons, and generated USD 661.7 million in revenues, 3.5% less than the same month of the previous year. In reais, revenues in June totaled BRL 2.2 billion, 6.2% higher.
Despite the increase of exports in volume, the sector faced a complicated first half, according to ABPA’s assessment. Among the obstacles were the price of corn, which went beyond BRL 60 (USD 18.28), and the decline of the dollar price to BRL 3.30, which impacted the margins of the sector. According to the association, some companies announced the elimination of shifts while others closed plants or suspended contracts for the leasing of properties.
For these reasons, ABPA revised downward its forecast on 2016 production from 13.5 million, made early in the year, to 13 million tons. It’s a 4% fall between one forecast to another. In this scenario, an increase in exports is considered to be a boost by the association.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani