Brazil’s chicken and pork exports fall in March

According to Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secex) data, Brazil’s chicken exports fell 9.5% to 340,500 tons in March year-on-year. Brazil also saw a fall in revenue generated from chicken shipments in March, down 4.1% to US$564.8m compared to the same month last year. Brazil’s first quarter chicken exports decreased by 7.6% to 939,300 tons year-on-year, while revenue dropped 3.8% to US$1.543bn.

However, some countries increased imports of chicken from Brazil, including leading importer China up 2% to 41,700 tons in March, year-on-year. In the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar increased chicken imports, up 23% to 36,300 tons year-on-year and 40% to 7,400 tons respectively.

Animal Protein Association (ABPA) reported the country’s pork shipments reached 54,800 tons in March, down 5.6% in the same month year-on-year. Brazil earned 7.8% less foreign currency during this period, at US$106.6m down from US$115.7m in 2018. However, the South American country saw positive growth in pork shipments in the first quarter of 2019, up 1.46% to 157,500 tons year-on-year, whereas revenue fell 5.4% to US$298.3m year-on-year.

China topped the largest destination of Brazilian pork at 13,023 tons in March. The Asian country’s swine flu outbreak has forced the country to resort to increase imports to meet the country’s growing pork appetite.

Sharing is caring!