Brazil pork, chicken exports to China seen to escalate

Brazil's poultry and pork exports to China are expecting a boost after a trip to that country by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's this month, industry exporters said.

 

"We are really optimistic that Brazil will be able to ship chicken products direct to China after Lula's visit," Brazilian Association of Chicken Producers and Exporters, or Abef, President Francisco Turra told Dow Jones Newswires.

 

The red tape has been removed and 22 Brazilian plants have already been inspected by Chinese officials, he said.

 

Lula will be in China from May 18 to 20 and is scheduled to meet Chinese President Hu Jintao.

 

China-Brazil trade soared in 2008 to US$36.4 billion - more than a 50 percent increase over the previous year. That increase made China the second-biggest trade partner to Brazil after the US

 

Most of Brazil's US$20 billion worth of sales to China were of commodities such as iron ore and soy. Now, the poultry and pork exporters want a taste of the action and are keen to see their products enter straight to the Chinese market.

 

"Everything is prepared and we are confident that China will start to import Brazilian poultry soon," said Turra. This depends on China finalizing the agreement, he noted.

 

Hong Kong is already a large consumer of Brazilian chicken products and these often pass into mainland China. But it's still too early to talk about volumes, he added.

 

Overall, Abef expects worldwide chicken exports to fall 5 percent from 3.7 million tonnes in 2008 due to the global economic crisis - a decrease from the average annual growth rate of 11 percent for the last ten years.

 

New markets such as China, Algeria, Chile and Indonesia should help to support exports this year, Turra said.

 

Lygia Pimentel, an analyst at Scott consultancy, recalled that China and Brazil signed an animal health agreement at the end of 2008. This opened the way for poultry exports, but so far shipments haven't begun and further negotiations are needed, she said.

 

"Still, this market [China] represents a huge opportunity as the Chinese are increasingly eating more chicken," Pimentel said.

 

Pimentel said that Brazil's exports of chicken to Asia were 195,000 tonnes in the first quarter of this year. Revenue was US$299 million in the same period.

 

The president of Brazil's Pork Industry Association also hopes that President Lula's meeting in China will be used to announce the start of Brazilian pork exports direct to China.

 

"China imports some 400,000 tonnes of pork and we'd like to get 10 percent of this market," said Pedro de Camargo Neto.

 

Brazilian meat company Marfrig said it already exports almost 10 percent of its three main proteins - beef, chicken and pork products - to Asia, principally to China via Hong Kong.

 

If China's borders open for direct imports, the company would jump to take advantage, said Ricardo Florence, Marfrig's investor relations.

 

"China is the new frontier and we hope it will bring new business," Florence said.

 

Brazil is the world's No.1 chicken exporter and a leading exporter of pork.