March 13, 2014

Korea's export of chicken and duck meat in January dropped to US$600,000 in value, down 80.9% compared to US$3.4 million in the same period of last year, according to a report "February 2014 Food Export Trend" published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs on March 11.

As bird flu spread throughout the country, poultry exports have declined precipitously. The export volume has also fallen 93.9% to 200 tonnes from 2,900 tonnes in January 2013.

Since the first case of avian flu was reported in the south on January 16 this year, scores of farms had to bury their chickens and ducks to keep the epidemic from spreading further. The total number of fowls killed as part of preventive measures has so far been 8.6 million.

It usually takes five months for a country to be allowed to sell its poultry overseas again after the case of avian flu occurs, which leads to an immediate stop to exports.

Last year, total poultry export volume was 22,000 tonnes, valued at $41.3 million. The industry figured it would lose at least US$10 million in export income even if Korea gets back its right to export poultry meat without delay.