February 5, 2014

Demand for chicken meat from Brazil is growing due to avian influenza outbreaks in some Asian countries such as South Korea, China and Hong Kong, according to the Brazilian Poultry Union (UBABEF).

Total shipments of chicken meat from Brazil, including whole chicken, cut, salted and processed, increased 3.3% in January, totaling 300,000 tonnes, compared to 290,400 tonnes in the first month of 2013, reported UBABEF. The figures include sales of UBABEF.

"The first month has already indicated that our forecast recovery is true, due to the dollar and good global demand, and problems in some markets, particularly avian influenza in Asia", said the president of UBABEF. The industry expects a growth of 3% to 4% in exports of chicken meat from Brazil this year, reaching a record four million tonnes.

Revenue from shipments of chicken meat from Brazil grew 12.3% from a year ago, reaching BRL1.35 billion (US$56 billion), due to the increase in volume and a favourable exchange rate; a stronger dollar against the Brazilian Real makes Brazilian exports more competitive.

Sales in dollar fell 4.2% in the month at US$566.9 million against US$592 million lin 2013.