São Paulo – From January to August, 2.993 million tons of poultry were exported from Brazil, a 6.15% increase over the year-ago period, the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) reported this Friday (2).
However, in August alone, foreign sales dropped 4.6% from August 2015, to 364,500 tons.
“We have ascertained that some buyers in Asia and the Middle East have reduced their import levels. On the other hand, countries like Egypt helped cushion the impact of this contraction,” a press release quoted ABPA president Francisco Turra as saying.
The Middle East is the biggest market for Brazilian chicken, with Saudi Arabia as the leading sole buyer.
Despite the higher shipped volume, export revenues in US dollars shrank 5% from January to August from the year-ago period to USD 4.6 billion. In August alone, revenues were down 5.3% from August to USD 615.8 million.
The drop in Brazilian real was even sharper, at 13.5%, since the Brazilian currency gained on the dollar over the last few months. In August, Brazilian poultry exports fetched BRL 1.976 billion in revenue.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
