W5: Weekly Poultry & Egg Update

Chicken

Europe: Full Market Due to Poultry Meat From Eastern Europe (Feb 3)

In W4, both the free Belgian Deinze quotation and the Barneveld broiler quotation fell. In Barneveld the price was reduced by 2 cents hence amounting to USD 1.26/kg (1.17 euros). The Deinze quotation lost 4 cents to USD 1.29/kg (1.20 euros). Contract prices are also under pressure. The Belgian ABC quotation fell by 2 cents to USD 1.32/kg (1.23 euros) in W4. The VCN fell by 0.5 cents to USD 1.19/kg (1.108 euros). The price pressure has to do with the slack situation on the meat market. Poultry meat from Poland and Ukraine is widely available. Last spring, the European Commission took the decision to give Ukraine the opportunity to export eggs and chicken to the European Union (EU) without levies for a year. With this, the European Commission wants to help the Ukrainian population to mitigate the negative consequences of the war. The result of this measure is that Ukraine is exporting plenty of chicken to Western Europe. Compared to previous years, imports from Ukraine increased by 45K MT, up 65%.

US: Chicken Meat Exports May Have Retreated in 2022, for the Second Consecutive Year (Jan 30)

The final figures from the US Agriculture Department indicate that in November 2022, for the third consecutive month, the chicken meat volume shipped was higher than that of the same months of the previous year. Even so, the increase observed was insufficient to reverse the negative result that had been registered in the year. Thus, in the first 11 months of 2022, a 1% drop prevailed in relation to the same period of the previous year. On the other hand, in the accumulated 12 months, there continues to be a slight reduction coming from the beginning of that fiscal year. Thus, between December 2021 and November 2022, the volume exported barely exceeded 3.310M MT, a result that implied a decrease of 0.87% over the same 12 previous months.

US: Estimates That 1.45B Chicken Wings Will Be Consumed During the 2023 Super Bowl (Feb 3)

Americans will eat up to 1.45B chicken wings on the occasion of Super Bowl LVII, the final of the national football league that will be held on February 12 at 5:30 p.m. in California, according to data provided by the National Chicken Council of the United States. This number represents a 2% increase from last year's report, the equivalent of 84M more wings than in 2022. There are several reasons for the uptick, says National Chicken Council spokesman Tom Super, which include more favorable prices and more people getting back on track and gathering for the Super Bowl, either at home or at a bar/restaurant.

US: Chicken Inflation Makes the US Dizzy, Putin Is Also the Culprit (Feb 3)

Lifestyle during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian and Ukrainian wars, and bird flu have caused the prices of eggs and chicken to soar in a number of corners of the world, including the United States. Prices for a wide variety of products have soared in recent years due to the unusually strong demand for the goods which has overwhelmed manufacturers. The problem is exacerbated by President Vladimir Putin's Russian war in Ukraine, which has disrupted global food and energy supplies. Food inflation was particularly acute as grain supplies dwindled and fuel, fertilizer and animal feed costs soared. The 'suffering' did not stop there, bird flu started hitting commercial chicken farms early last year, driving egg prices up sharply.

Brazil: How the Brazilian Poultry Industry Can Avoid Avian Influenza (Feb 1)

Ensuring the excellence of Brazilian poultry farming has its daily challenges and one of the most recurring concerns has been to avoid certain diseases, such as Avian Influenza. This disease aggressively affects the respiratory system of birds and can also impact the producer with significant losses in production. According to the supervisor of specialties at Quimtia Brasil, a company specializing in the manufacture of inputs for animal nutrition, Georgia Almeida, the main measures involve the need to use attire for contact with the birds, in the case of broiler chickens, using plastic boots, changing them at each aviary visited and disposable aprons and the indispensability of complete baths and the use of uniforms from the farm itself in the case of parent aviaries, in addition to, of course, the disinfection of trucks that enter the properties with disinfectants in the necessary dosage and with properly functioning disinfection arcs. The specialist also reinforces that it is essential to be aware of the flow of personnel inside the farms, avoiding the movement of people who had contact with contaminated lots, in addition to complying with the sanitary void as specified by the veterinarian in charge, also respecting the ages of the lots and types of animals in poultry establishments.

Brazil: Chicken Price Retreats in January, Despite High Shipments (Feb 3)

The average prices of most poultry products monitored by Cepea registered significant drops between December 2022 and the first month of 2023, due to the high supply of meat in the domestic market. According to collaborators consulted by Cepea, the greater availability of protein added to the low purchasing power of most of the Brazilian population in January, a month marked by extra expenses, reinforcing the drop in prices. Not even the good performance of exports of chicken meat, in natura, throughout the month was enough to prevent devaluations in the domestic market. According to information from Secex, the daily average of shipments of fresh chicken meat was 17.7K MT in January, 9.9% higher than that observed in December 2022 and 17% higher than that of January 2022, totaling 388.6K MT in the last month.

Kenya: Lifting of Import Ban on Dairy and Poultry Products From Uganda (Jan 31)

The Kenyan government has lifted a two year ban on dairy and poultry products from Uganda. This comes as the Kenyan cabinet secretary for investment, trade and industry delivered a message from President William Ruto to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni lifting the ban. This move will increase the value of Ugandan exports to Kenya which started to drop as dairy and poultry products are among the major exports, along with tea and coffee.

Egypt: Chicks Prices Increase From USD 0.017- O.033 (Feb 5)

Chick prices on Feb 5 in Egypt continue to rise in most poultry companies, in continuation of the wave of daily increases in the sales movement as a result of the increase in purchase rates by poultry traders. On Feb 5, the prices of chicks witnessed increases from USD 0.017 to USD 0.033 (50 piasters to 1 pound) at once. In Cairo Poultry, they witnessed increases of USD 0.025 (75 piasters), Al-Watania USD 0.017 (50 piasters), Al-Wadi USD 0.033 (1 EGP), and Ruwad Al-Nil USD 0.017 (50 piasters). With the stability of selling prices in Al-Fayrouz, Al-Anani, and Egyptian Dutch, at the same rates as Feb 4.

Japan: More Than 1M Chicken to Be Slaughtered in Central Japan Due to Bird Flu Outbreak (Feb 3)

Authorities in Tokyo's neighboring Ibaraki prefecture have decided to destroy more than 1.1M chickens at a local farm due to a new outbreak of bird flu. It is noted that mass infection was detected at a poultry farm in the city of Yatio. Subdivisions of the country's Self-Defense Forces will be connected to the slaughter of chickens. This season, about 60 outbreaks of bird flu have already been recorded in more than 20 prefectures throughout Japan.

Turkey

US: Iowa Reports Most Recent HPAI Commercial Outbreak (Jan 30)

The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship announced on Jan. 25 that the state of Iowa discovered a new outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Buena Vista County, Iowa, that affected a commercial turkey flock. Numbers from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) of the US Department of Agriculture stated that 27.7K birds were affected in the flock. Data from the state agency showed that since March 2022, 7 commercial HPAI outbreaks have been reported in Buena Vista County. After reporting cases on Jan 19, Rockingham County in Virginia reported 10.6K more birds affected by HPAI at a commercial turkey flock. The other most recent case affected 25.3K birds.

Romania: Bird Flu Outbreak at the Largest Turkey Farm (Jan 30)

The Animal Health and Diagnostic Institute confirmed the presence of the H5N1 bird flu virus in the samples taken from the Bravcod turkey farm, located in the town of Codlea, Brasov county, having a number of 65K birds. A protection and surveillance zone was delimited around the outbreak, so that severe restrictions on the movement of people, animals and means of transport were taken within a radius of at least 10 km. There are 9 other commercial poultry farms in the protection zone and 15 in the surveillance zone, which are permanently monitored through clinical inspections and sample collection.

Egg

US: AFIA Looks to Refute “Conspiracy Theories” Around Feed and Us Egg Prices and Lower Output (Feb 1)

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has moved to dispel what it says are untruths on social media sites and news stories linked to commercial poultry feed and reduced egg production in the US. US retail egg prices jumped from USD 1.79 per dozen in December 2021 to USD 4.25 per dozen in December 2022. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that the record outbreak of avian flu is the reason for the high prices, restricting supplies, at a time of peak demand and higher costs for feed and transportation.

UK: New Barn Egg Labelling Concession Introduced to Support Egg Industry (Feb 3)

Egg labeling changes have been introduced for poultry that have had to be housed due to avian influenza. From 1 February, eggs originating from free range flocks in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex will need to be labeled as barn eggs. This will apply to the rest of England from the 27th February. This is in line with Egg Marketing Standards Regulations. The commencement date marks the end of the 16W grace period given after the introduction of a regional (12 October 2022) and subsequent national mandatory housing order (7 November 2022).

New Zealand: Setting to Secure Their Own Supply of Eggs (Jan 30)

The price of eggs has increased worldwide since avian influenza has wiped out millions of birds, coupled with a massive hike in the price of energy and feed. While some countries have reported a steeper increase than others, in New Zealand, locals are looking to keep their own backyard birds. On 1 January, it became unlawful to house hens in cages. This is reportedly adding to the pressures that producers are facing and the Egg Producers Federation of New Zealand says there is currently a shortage of 300K hens. But, New Zealand is among the countries that consume more eggs per person than most, and the recent shortage and price hike of eggs has caused locals to look to secure their own supplies in their own backyards.

Ukraine: The Classification of Eggs Will Change in Ukraine, According to Ministry of Agrarian Policy (Feb 1)

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy has released for public discussion the draft order of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy "On Approval of Requirements for Chicken Eggs", which changes the classification of products. The draft order provides for approving the requirements for chicken eggs in terms of: sorting eggs according to their quality and weight; stamping of eggs, labeling of packages (containers) and transport containers for eggs, containers for industrial eggs and providing information to the consumer in the case of individual sales of eggs. Also it highlights packaging and repackaging of eggs, and recordkeeping requirements to be maintained by market operators.