São Paulo – Brazilian poultry exports amounted to USD 604.9 million in January, up 34.1% from January 2015. The information was released this Thursday (2) by the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).
Last month saw 363,600 tons of chicken meat shipped abroad from Brazil, including raw and processed items. The amount is up 14.8% from January last year.
ABPA said some of the countries in the Middle East, Asia and Europe increased their poultry imports from Brazil last month, which doesn’t happen often at this time of the year.
“Yemen and Qatar increased their purchases the most, and that fuelled our foreign trade numbers,” said ABPA executive chairman Francisco Turra regarding the leading Arab buyers. “These countries were a positive surprise,” he said. According to him, imports by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia fell short of the average amounts for the month.
Turra imputes the overall rise in exports to steps taken to prevent avian flu in Brazil, which he said drove the country’s sales. “We gained ground from countries which struggled with the avian flu,” he explained.
In Brazilian currency, January export revenues reached BRL 1.933 billion, up 5.8% from January of last year. For 2017, ABPA’s promotional actions in other countries will include joining its partner businesses at Gulfood, the Middle East’s premier food industry expo, set to take place in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates from February 26 through March 2.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum