December 14, 2007

Middle East buys nearly half of Brazil's Parana chicken exports

With around 731,700 tonnes of chicken that Brazil exported last year, 322,500 tonnes or 44 percent was purchased by the Middle East.

The Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE) reported that Parana contributed 19.6 percent to Brazil's total chicken production, with the Arab countries standing as the leading consumers of chicken meat from Parana.

The state is the largest producer and second biggest exporter of poultry in Brazil. Last year, revenues from Parana reached US$351.7 million.

The largest poultry producer for Brazil is Santa Catarina, which is responsible for 27.94 percent of the country's total exports.

Shipments to the Arab countries maintained a positive note throughout 2007. In the first ten months of this year, the poultry sector in Parana exported 281,100 tonnes to the nations in the League of Arab States. This generated a 9-percent increase over the same period of 2006, when the sales volume was 257,600 tonnes.

Revenues escalated from US$266.1 million to US$351.7 million, a 32.2-percent expansion.

Brazil places as the third largest producer of chicken meat in the world, after US and China.