EU poultry meat exports up 2.5 percent in early 2015

Exports of poultry meat by the European Union rose by 2.5 percent between January and April 2015 to stand at 466,387 metric tons. This overall positive figure, however, masks a wide disparity of performance from market to market.
Benin was the main destination for European poultry meat exports over the first four months of this year. At 55,127 metric tons, exports to the country were 9 percent higher when compared to the same period last year, and accounted for 11.8 percent of total European Union poultry meat sales overseas.
Sales to South Africa, however, were close behind at 51,735 metric tons, or 11.1 percent of the total. However, in contract with Benin, sales to South Africa declined by 12 percent.
According to latest figures released by the European Commission, the strongest increase in demand for European poultry meat over the period came from the Philippines. Sales to that country grew by 173 percent to stand at 36,770 tonnes.
Unsurprisingly, the biggest decrease in demand for European poultry meat exports was recorded in the Russian market. At a mere 300 metric tons, Russian imports of European poultry meat were down by 99 percent compared to the same period last year.