November 28, 2007

UK relies heavily on chicken imports

UK is still highly reliant on imported poultry and poultry products as the local manufacturing industries are on steady production decline.

According to The Scotsman paper, UK has been dependent on food imports particularly poultry and red meat.

The low production output of manufacturers is caused by the preference to use cheap labour offshore, like those of developing countries.

Import figures show that from January to end of September this year, the UK imported a minimum of 214,500 tonnes of chicken and turkey from several sources worldwide. This represents an increase of 26,000 tonnes.

At the same time, UK poultry exports fell approximately by 9,000 tonnes, down 23,000 tonnes from the same period two years ago.

The Scotsman article elaborates that with the rising cost of feed, fuel and fertiliser, UK's reliance on poultry imports will continue further.