São Paulo – Brazilian poultry exports to Egypt grew 119% in volume in the first quarter of the year when compared to the same period of 2010, despite the political crisis that erupted in the country early this year. The information was supplied by the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef) this Thursday (14th) during a press conference at the union’s headquarters in São Paulo.
"Egypt is experiencing a political crisis, but has not strayed too far from its regular import volume," claimed Ricardo Santin, the Ubabef Markets director. "Last year, they imported 120,000 tonnes [of poultry], and Egyptian imports are somewhat seasonal, one month they will import 11,000 [tonnes] and another, 7,000, and so on. Fortunately, we have not sensed any specific effects of the crisis in Egypt," said the executive.
In terms of volume, Egypt imported 16,400 tonnes of poultry from Brazil from January to March this year. In the same period in 2010, imports reached 7,480 tonnes.
Revenues have grown by an even higher rate, according to figures presented by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce : sales reached US$ 30.51 million in the first quarter of 2011, as against US$ 11.02 million in the same period of 2010, representing growth of 176.83%.
The Middle East has remained the top target for Brazilian poultry in the first quarter, having accounted for 39% of purchases. Asia, the second leading target market, retained a 27% share of total purchases, and Africa and the European Union purchased 12% each. Poultry shipments to the region reached 361,800 tonnes, an increase of 13.8% over the first quarter of 2010. Revenues increased by 36.2% and reached US$ 673 million.
Saudi Arabia was the top target country, with an import volume of 139.08 tonnes. The United Arab Emirates ranked fifth, with 60.47 tonnes, and Kuwait ranked sixth, having imported 53.63 tonnes. "The global scenario for food imports is doing great. There is a good demand, especially from developing countries, "said Ubabef president Francisco Turra at the event.
Santin also pointed out specific actions taken to promote Brazilian poultry in the Arab countries. "We attend the Gulfood (a fair in Dubai) and we have been there this year. We have also promoted specific actions, such as a magazine on Brazilian poultry all written in Arabic, addressing the Halal market. We are also working on a manual for Halal egg production," said the director.
In total, foreign sales in the first quarter of this year totalled 973,000 tonnes, growth of 7.7% over the same period last year. Revenues in the period were US$ 1.98 billion, growth of 23.6%. The figures include exports of chicken, turkey, duck, goose and other birds, as well as genetic material and eggs. If only chicken is taken into consideration, the volume shipped in the quarter was 933,000 tonnes, growth of 10.1% over the same period in 2010. Regarding revenues, exports reached US$ 1.86 billion, growth of 28.3%.
The Middle East was also prominent in the purchase of duck, goose and other birds. The region imported 87 tonnes in the first three months of the year, only behind Asia, which purchased 255 tonnes. The Emirates were responsible for the purchase of 34,300 tonnes of the birds.
The Ubabef president announced that expectations for chicken exports for 2011 are for growth of 3% to 5% as against last year. However, he complained about the appreciation of the dollar as against the Brazilian real, which is stunting exports and sector competitiveness. "It is a shame what the exchange policy is doing at an inappropriate hour, as there is great [worldwide] demand [for Brazilian chicken]”, he pointed out.
"We hope the government has some specific actions, like maize price reductions, and that the dollar start stabilising at slightly higher levels," said Santin. "Or, in the sectors that are being greatly affected, like ours, where there is already a threat of unemployment, that the government provide some kind of tax break or exemption, to maintain the sector competitive on the global market," he added.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum and Mark Ament
