São Paulo – The Middle East is one of the few parts of the world that have increased purchases of chicken from Brazil this year. The region is the main importer of chicken and, apart from it, only the Americas increased their imports in 2013, according to a balance sheet disclosed on Wednesday (16) by the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef).
According to the institution, the countries of the Middle East imported 1.094 million tonnes of chicken from January to September, growth of 7.3% in volume as against the same period in 2012. To the Americas, sales totalled 190,100 tonnes and had growth of 23.2%.
In the year, the country shipped 815,200 tonnes to Asia, 5.3% less than in the same period in 2012. To Africa, the third main client, sales in the year totalled 389,100 tonnes and dropped 14.9%. To the European Union, shipments totalled 302,800 tonnes of chicken and are 10.2% down from September 2012, and to the Europeans, sales totalled 71,000 tonnes, or 22.5% less than from January to September last year.
In the accumulated result for the year, chicken shipments totalled 2.865 million tonnes, 2% less than in the same period in 2012. In values, however, revenues are greater: up to now, sales of chicken generated US$ 5.989 billion, growth of 6.7% over the revenues obtained up to September last year.
According to the market director at Ubabef, Ricardo Santin, the performance of exports to the Middle East is the result of the Brazilian product’s strong reputation among clients in the region.
“We have a long-lasting trade partnership with them. Brazil has been supplying the demand in the Middle East for several years and is now the main chicken supplier to the region,” he said, recalling, however, that there is great competition among European Union producers and the markets in the Middle East.
According to Santin, of the 1.094 million tonnes exported by Brazil to the Middle East in the period, 509,000 went to Saudi Arabia, the main client in the region. The United Arab Emirates imported 189,000 tonnes, Kuwait, 92,000, Iraq, 64,000 and Yemen, 55,800 tonnes.
The market director at Ubabef stated that the reduction in shipments throughout the year is caused mainly by Africa, due to antidumping measures (in which prices of imported products face a surcharge) practiced by the main buyer on the continent, South Africa. In Asia, the reduction is due to bureaucratic jams faced by Brazilian exporters selling to China and, in the European Union, the lower sales are a result of the economic crisis.
Bad climate
In September, exports were lower both in volume and in value, as against the same period in 2012. Last month, poultry farms exported 302,000 tonnes of beef, or 1.2% less than in September 2012. Revenues with these shipments totalled US$ 578.3 million, or 8.6% less than in the same month in 2012.
Santin pointed out that due to the bad climate conditions, ports that ship chicken, like Itajaí, in Santa Catarina, were closed for some days in September. “Some 30,000 tonnes were not shipped, which represents around 10% of monthly shipments,” said Santin.
Ubabef forecasts that exports this year should recover towards December, ending the year with the same volume shipped as in 2012, when exports totalled 3.918 million tonnes.
*Translated by Mark Ament
