Chicken exporters reroute shipments after Strait of Hormuz closure

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war between the United States and Israel against Iran has prompted Brazilian chicken exporters to look for alternative maritime and land routes to deliver their products, Ricardo Santin, president of the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA), told Valor.

The measure is vital to reduce potential losses caused by longer transportation times and to ensure supply to consumers in more than ten countries in the region that import Brazilian poultry. More than half of the chicken imported by Saudi Arabia comes from Brazil. In the case of the United Arab Emirates, the share rises to 74%, according to Santin. From Brazil’s perspective, about 30% of its chicken exports are shipped to the Middle East.

The following is a historical data compilation of monthly containerized poultry exports from Brazil to Saudi Arabia, recorded between January 2023 and January 2026. This information is sourced from Datamar statistics:

Poultry Exports to Saudi Arabia | Brazil | Jan 2022 – Jan 2026 | TEUs

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

One option that shipping companies (shipowners) have recently started using to reach Saudi Arabia—the third-largest importer of Brazilian chicken—and Jordan is the Bab al-Mandab Strait, between Yemen and Djibouti in Africa, Santin said. The strait offers access to the Red Sea and the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia.

Another option, this time to reach Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, is the port of Salalah in southern neighboring Oman. Until now, maritime access had been through the Strait of Hormuz, which is now closed. According to the ABPA president, shipments from Salalah can be transported overland to Dubai.

A third alternative route has recently emerged, involving an operator capable of delivering cargo to the port of Khorfakkan on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates before reaching the strait.

“Two days ago, we didn’t even have access to the Red Sea, and now we do,” Santin said. “The situation has gotten better.”

With only a few days of conflict so far, there has been no movement to reduce poultry slaughter or the placement of breeder hens in Brazil’s poultry industry, which produces the chicks, according to the ABPA president.

Nor is there, “at this moment,” any sign of falling chicken prices in the Brazilian market, since the volume exported to the region is relatively small compared with domestic consumption, Santin said.

While domestic consumption of chicken meat—roughly 900,000 tonnes per month, or about 30,000 daily—makes up 65% of Brazil’s total production, the 12 Middle Eastern countries served by Brazil (excluding Iran) import between 100,000 and 120,000 tonnes each month, or around 15% of the country’s output, according to Santin. On a daily basis, approximately 5,000 tonnes are shipped to the region.

Therefore, the amount of chicken currently headed to the Middle East during this week of conflict wouldn’t be enough to lower prices in Brazil, even if it were entirely redirected to the domestic market—which hasn’t been happening, as companies keep trying to find ways to deliver shipments to their intended destinations, he said.

“If this situation drags on for a long time, then there could be [a price decline],” he said, referring to Brazil.

To enable the use of alternative maritime and land routes, ABPA has asked Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry to modify documents issued for shipments to Middle Eastern countries so that cargo can be delivered to destinations other than those originally specified in the export documentation.

According to Santin, the ministry responded that it “will facilitate” whatever is possible. The Agriculture Ministry has not released an official document on the matter.

Source: Valor International

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