April 19, 2004

Indian Poultry Industry To Benefit From Expanded EU

The Indian poultry industry could benefit from export trade due to the expansion of the European Union countries. The industry is looking up, with increased demand for egg powder from these countries. The industry sources say that the export volumes to EU nations have increased to 12,000 ton in the year 2003-04 as compared to 4,000 ton during 1997-98. In the current year, exports are expected to be double at 25,000 ton, sources said.

Out of the total six processing units in the country, four of them cater to exports. The leading egg powder exporters from Andhra Pradesh believed that with the expansion of EU countries, the market is widened and opened up for more Indian processors.

As per the International Egg Commission report, the demand from the world egg powder market is about 12,50,000 ton. It is mainly due to the increased demand coming from the bakeries, confectioneries and the pharma sector. This means there is a huge demand for Indian exports, which qualitatively adhere to the export norms of EU countries, Mr KG Anand, general manager of Venkateshwara Hatcheries Ltd told FE.

While two of the plants are expanding their processing capacities from seven lakhs ton to 14 lakh ton, the remaining two are also working to enhance their production capacities over a period to meet the growing demand in the international markets, he said.

Despite imposing severe norms on Indian products, the pricing from the EU countries for the three-egg powder - albumen, whole egg and yolk powder, is the most beneficial value level. This year, the prices have increased 6.5 euro for albumin powder, whole egg and yolk powder at 4.5 euro, which are relatively less in comparison to last year, Mr Anand said.

In the following years to come, the demand is expected to surge for value-added and specialty products like isolation of enzymes from egg powders, salted yolk powder, pasta mix, etc.

The processors in the country are looking towards specialty products rather than focusing on the conventional products, he added.