Thailand Bites into Brazilian Chicken Exports
Thailand Bites into Brazilian Chicken Exports
THAILAND – Thailand looks set to return to a leading position in the global poultry market after the EU announced that it will end restrictions on imports of raw poultry meat from Thailand on 1 July 2012.
The end of the ban could cut prices for consumers at a time when they have been hard hit by inflation in other foodstuffs.
These are some of the main conclusions coming out of a new report from Rabobank ” The Return of Thai Raw Chicken – Global players need to change strategy.”
The restrictions on one of the world’s major poultry exporters followed an outbreak of bird flu in the country in 2003.
Japan also stopped importing Thai raw poultry and is widely expected to lift its own restrictions. Brazil is set to be particularly hard hit as it is currently the major supplier to both Japan and Europe.
The 2003 ban saw the poultry sector in Thailand lose 350,000 tonnes of export volume out of a total of 500,000 tonnes and suffer from years of overcapacity.
However, in recent years the industry has shifted its strategic focus to cooked processed poultry meat, for which exports were allowed. This strategy was so successful that the industry once again reached full capacity in 2010/2011, resulting in a first wave of investments.
The re-opening of the EU and Japanese markets could see Thailand’s raw chicken production grow by 20 per cent by 2015.
The EU and Japan have long favoured Thai products for their high quality and low prices.
