October 8, 2014

1.7% spike in EU chicken meat production seen 

The EU will produce more chicken leading meat this year and in 2015 despite problems suffered by France where two large producers have filed for bankruptcy, according to a US report.

The US Department of Agriculture report said that EU's chicken meat production is expected to increase by 1.7%   to 10.07 million tonnes from last year, adding that volumes will also expand by 1.2% to 10.2 million tonnes.

The EU is the world's fourth-largest chicken meat producer, behind China, Brazil and the US. It is the third-largest consumer.

The USDA report also projected that EU exports this year will total 1.05 million tonnes or 20,000 tonnes below an earlier forecast.

"EU exports of broiler meat to Russia had already declined in the first half of 2014, well before Russia put in place a ban on many EU food products including poultry meat," it said.

It added that EU broiler exporters faced stiff competition from Belarus and Brazil, as well as from increased domestic production.

EU exports next year are forecast to increase slightly to 1.06m tonnes, the report said.