October 20, 2004

Thailand's Chicken Export Targets Curtailed
 

Despite the lesser impact of the second round of bird flu in Thailand, the disease had resulted in considerable damage to the country's economy. Chicken exports, in particular, recorded a significant decrease.

"The effect on chicken exports will last until the second half of next year," according to Thanawat Pholvichai, director of the Centre for Economics and Business Forecasting in Thailand.

Thanawat said the government's chicken export target of Bt40 billion - Bt50 billion this year would be impossible to achieve. This is because the outbreak had not been properly dealt with and would have a direct impact on exports.

Export targets for frozen and processed chicken had initially been set at Bt40 billion - Bt50 billion. The figures will now be reduced to Bt20 billion - Bt25 billion.

The poultry industry has also suffered Bt35 billion in losses from the two outbreaks. Bt10 billion was lost in production because of the culling of the 31 million chickens.

One million chickens were culled in the resurgence of the virus, compared with 30 million birds destroyed during the first outbreak earlier this year.

The second round of the avian influenza outbreak caused Bt200 million worth of damage to the industry, compared with the first outbreak which saw a Bt5 billion - Bt7 billion deficit.