China may slash US chicken imports by 55%

China may cut imports of US chicken by 55% this year, as the country institutes anti- dumping tariffs on the meat, a unit of the USDA said.

Imports from the US may slump to 150,000 tonnes from about 335,000 tonnes last year, the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said. China may import 425,000 tonnes of chicken from all sources in 2010, up from an estimated 401,000 tonnes last year.

The country is instituting anti-dumping duties on US poultry, after a preliminary investigation showed producers selling at below-market prices, according to reports.

In June 2009, China expressed anger that a US ban on Chinese poultry imports, enacted after a bird flu scare in 2004, had not been removed, violating World Trade Organization rules. The 2009 Agriculture Spending Bill, passed in October, lifted the ban.

China was the third-largest market for imported US poultry last year, behind Russia and Mexico.

Meanwhile, sales of chicken products were slow after the Qingming Festival, dragging down AA broiler prices last week. Consequently, day-old broiler chick prices consolidated lower as well.

Similarly, low demand weighed on the prices of China breed broilers, which in turn limited the upward potential of the day-old chicks market.