São Paulo – Three Arab countries increased their poultry imports from Brazil in 2020 over 2019. One highlight was Egypt, at 58,700 tonnes, up 15% from the previous year. Yemen imported more, too, at 112,400 tonnes, up 6.1%, as well as Jordan at 56,800, up 18.9%. The figures were disclosed on Friday (15) by the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).
Overall, poultry exports from Brazil were up 0.4% year on year in 2020 at 4.23 million tonnes for USD6.123 billion, down 12.5%.
The figures show that poultry sales from Brazil to Asia, Africa and Europe were up in 2020. Africa imported 555,700 tonnes throughout the year, up 5.1% from 2019.
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To the Middle East, though, exports were down 5.7% from 2019. The volume shipped was 1.355 million tonnes.
Despite the decrease to the region, ABPA celebrates the improvement in particular destinations. “The good results in most of the poultry importing regions show the strength of Brazilian exports and reinforce the good expectations for 2021 shipments, as imports recover, particularly in the top destinations of the Middle East, which posted an improvement in the last two months of 2020,” a press release quoted ABPA chairman Ricardo Santin as saying.
As ANBA published in December, the Arab bloc lost its lead to Asian in poultry imports from Brazil. The Asian continent has established itself as the main destination of Brazil’s poultry exports at 1.635 million tonnes last year, up 5.8% from the previous. The highlight was China at 673,200 tonnes, up 15% year on year.
ABPA said that 67 new accreditations of poultry exporting plants were issued in 2020, including the one allowing exports to Egypt.
In December 2020, poultry sales from Brazil reached 380,800 tonnes, down 2.8% year on year. Revenue declined, at USD579.6 million, down 8.9% from the previous year.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda