May 4, 2012

Mexican poultry farmers face over 50% losses on US imports

President of the Mexican Association of Poultry Farmers, Jaime Espinoza Crivelli, said that because of US imports, Mexican poultry farmers are experiencing revenue losses between 60-130%.

Espinoza is appealing to the Ministry of Economy to impose tariffs on these imports, Mexican news site reports.

"We are in a bad situation...and there's now whole chicken imports coming in through our northern region. We have a market facing oversupply and producers are experiencing losses," he said.

US chicken leg and thigh are imported into Mexico at prices well below production costs, according to Espinoza. This practice is known as "dumping."

Sufficient evidence exists that this has taken place, he affirmed, which has affected the Mexican poultry industry. The Ministry of Finance determined that there has been "damage" to the Mexican industry, Espinoza added.

The Federal Competition Commission will be investigating the issue further due to formal complaints submitted by such Mexico-based poultry companies as Industrias Bachoco, Agricultural Products of Tehuacan and Buenaventura Group.