June 28, 2007

Argentina's poultry export rises 42 percent in first half of year

Argentina's poultry export rose 42 percent by value and 30 percent by weight in the first five months of the year, according to Argentine food quality and safety authority SENASA.

Argentina exported 55,523 tonnes of fresh and processed poultry meat worth  US$66.87 million and by-products for January to May 2007.

Fresh poultry accounted for 34,277 tonnes or US$43.77 of the total, an increase of 42 percent and 33 percent respectively.

Nearly a third of Argentina's poultry exports goes to Chile, its main customer. Others include South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Germany.

Poultry by-product export also increased 25 percent to 19,314 tonnes in volume and rose 49 percent to US$17.7 million in value, mainly to Hong Kong and China.

Processed chicken meat exports rose by 29 percent to 1,932 tonnes in volume and by 25 percent to US$5.4 million. Germany is the top importer of Argentine processed chicken meat, with 897 tonnes, followed by the Netherlands with 564 tonnes.