São Paulo – Brazilian chicken farmers who export to the Arab world should receive, up to the end of the month, a visit by an Egyptian delegation. The delegation came to Brazil on Sunday (8) and should remain in the country up to the 27th. In this period, 14 exporters in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, Paraná, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Goiás should be visited.
The Egyptians who participated in the mission, coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, should evaluate whether Brazilian chicken exporters follow halal slaughter, complying with Islamic tradition.
According to figures disclosed by the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef), chicken purchases by Egypt dropped 42.1% in volume last year in comparison with 2010. In 2011, the country purchased 72,000 tonnes of chicken from Brazil, which resulted in revenues of US$ 121.8 million for the exporters. One year before, purchases reached 121,400 tonnes, with revenues of US$ 197 million. In 2010, Egypt was the 10th main buyer of chicken. In 2011, it was the 12th in the Ubabef ranking.
To the Ubabef, the reduction in transfers in 2011 was generated by the Arab Spring. In Egypt, protests ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak, on February 11th. Since then, the country has been run by a military regime. The institution’s expectations, according to its president, Francisco Turra, are for this mission to help the sector return to exports so they may reach the same level as in 2010.
Record
On Thursday (11), Ubabef disclosed a balance of the first quarter. The results show that the sector exported 363,600 tonnes of chicken in March, a record for the period. The total exported is 6.6 % greater than registered in the same month in 2011. The growth in revenues, however, was lower: 3.25%, with a total of US$ 712.5 million in March.
In the accumulated result for the first quarter, exports of meats and chicken totalled 974,100 tonnes, 4.42% more than in the same period in 2011, with revenues of US$ 1.89 billion, or 1.1% more in the same comparison.
*Translated by Mark Ament
