July 13, 2004

Thai Charoen Pokphand Unaffected By New Bird Flu Outbreak

The re-emergence of bird flu in Thailand should not affect the chicken business of Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL, one of Thailand's largest chicken producers, as its chickens are raised in closed system farms, the company's top executive said Monday.

"There will be no impact from the new outbreak on our chicken business...Our chicken exports situation remains normal as we only export cooked chicken," said CPF Chairman Dhanin Chearavanont.

Thailand Saturday reported new outbreaks of bird flu in two northern provinces after authorities discovered the deadly strain of the virus in Sukhothai and Uttaradit provinces, bringing the total number of affected areas to four.

Last Wednesday, Thailand confirmed outbreaks, in central Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani provinces, of the same deadly strain of avian influenza that forced the culling of about 100 million chickens in Asia earlier this year.

Japan and the European Union, which collectively account for about 85% of Thailand's poultry exports, have not yet lifted their bans on raw poultry from the nation, which were imposed after the January outbreak. Both Japan and the EU resumed importing pre-cooked Thai poultry products several months ago.