Brazil’s poultry exports fall sharply in September

The volume of poultry meat exported by Brazil was slightly lower in September. At 366,400 tonnes, shipments were 0.5 percent lower than in September 2014.
However, the value of poultry exports recorded a far greater fall of 18.9 percent to stand at US$592 million. In local currency, which has almost halved in value against the dollar over the past 12 months, exports were 35.8 percent higher at BRL2.3 billion, said the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA).
ABPA notes that September’s downturn was largely due to the federal inspector’s strike, but emphasized that shipments to its main export markets held up well.
Commenting prior to the release of the finalized export figures, ABPA Executive President Francisco Turra commented that the slight fall in exports recorded during the month was directly attributable to the livestock inspectors’ strike, which hit poultry meat exports from the very first day of strike action, and resulted in the loss of 10 working days throughout the month.
Shipments to Hong Kong were particularly badly affected during September, down by 26 percent to 16,000 tonnes, while those to Angola were 67 percent lower at 3,600 tonnes.

Export market variation

Not everything was negative for the Brazilian poultry industry during September, which recorded a strong performance in some of its major markets.
“The volumes shipped to our main importers were positive, helping to reduce the impact of the strike,” Turra said.
Pointing to China, he noted that shipments, at 26,800 tonnes, were 33 percent higher than in September 2014, while Saudi Arabia, Brazil’s biggest poultry meat export market, received 63,200 tonnes, an increase of 10 percent.
While Brazil’s poultry exports year to data are 4.8 percent higher by volume, and the strike is not expected to significantly impact the total exported over 2015 as a whole, by value they have fallen by 9.1 percent to US$5.4 billion.