November 3, 2006

Thailand gets bigger quota for chicken exports to EU but worries remain

Thailand would be getting a 150,000-tonne quota for chicken exports to the EU, 10,000 tonnes more than what Thailand initially asked for, but concerns remained about future growth, according to Thai sources.

The EU has allowed overall imports of 264,24 tonnes of salted chicken at a tariff rate of 15.4 percent and 230,453 tonnes of cooked chicken at 10.9 percent tax.

Brazil accounted for the largest share of the quota at 170,000 tonnes of salted chicken and 73,000 tonnes of cooked chicken.

Despite the increase, the quota has created concerns in Thailand, which has a capacity of 500,000 tonnes of cooked chicken a year. This meant about 100,000 tonnes left over in the country, which would probably be distributed at a loss.

The Thai chicken meat industry, with about 60 processing companies remains optimistic demand for its cooked products on the EU market would increase in the next few years.