According to the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), Brazil exported 3,177 thousand tons of eggs in January and February and announced that this figure exceeds 150.6% of the volume shipped in the first two months of 2020, which was 1,267 thousand tons. The Brazilian product has been gaining ground in the international market, mainly due to health problems. Brazil has not registered cases of avian influenza as it has occurred in some other countries.
Increase in Egg Production and Consumption in Brazil
Brazil produces 2.2 million eggs annually, placing the country as the sixth largest egg producer in the world. The ABPA estimates that Brazil currently produces 1,300 eggs per second. From 2019 to 2020, production increased by 9.1%, that is, to 53,533 million units. By 2021, production is projected to increase by 5% 2021 to 56,210 million eggs.
Consumption is expected to increase by 2022 from 230 to 265 units per capita, a figure that would place Brazil among the largest egg consumers in Latin America, just behind Mexico, with 360 units per capita. With this amount, consumption would increase by about 8.7% from 2019 and will make Brazil’s egg sector double in size over the last decade.
Important Time for the Egg Sector in Brazil
Sales in the egg sector reached USD 4.12 million in the first two months of this year, a result 152.8% higher than the same period in 2020, with USD 1.63 million. Considering only the month of February, the sector's sales reached 1,552 thousand tons, a figure 247.9% higher than that reached in the second month of last year, with 446 tons. The February result reached USD 2 million in revenues, a balance 172.8% higher than the USD 769 thousand obtained during the same period last year.
The United Arab Emirates was the main importer of Brazilian eggs, receiving 2,356 tonnes in the two months, a 209.7% increase from the same months of 2020. The second place went to Sierra Leone, which imported 103 tonnes in the same period, without any imports registered in 2020—then followed by Japan, which imported 89.2 tonnes, an increase of 103% compared with the same period last year.
According to the ABPA and the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex), Brazil exported USD 41.28 million in 2020, which was a 31.2 % decrease in exports from 2019, when exports reached USD 60 million. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, 2020 was marked as the year with the lowest egg export volume since 2010. According to the Brazilian association, before 2020, the worst result for egg exports occurred in 2017, when 6,045 tonnes of eggs were exported.
Source: ITC Trade Map, Tridge
Chile and Mexico; New Markets for Brazilian Egg
The year’s positive start for Brazilian egg exports is not all caused by the 2020 low numbers, if not by a constant expansion effort of the sector to look for new market opportunities. With increasing production, Brazilian eggs have benefited from not having avian influenza cases over the last years, while other major producing countries have. For this reason, in 2017, Chile announced the authorization of Brazilian eggs to enter the market. Until 2019, Brazilian egg imports were registered in Chile, a market that is beginning to increase its exports as domestic consumption is rising.
Following the Chilean authorization, the Secretariat of Agriculture of Mexico announced in 2020 that Mexico opened the market for imports of eggs from Brazil. Mexico is the largest consumer of eggs globally, with approximately 360 units. It is also the fifth world producer and the first Latin American producer, above Brazil, which is why it leads world consumption with almost one egg per day per person.
According to statistics from the National Poultry Union (UNA), Mexico imported 20,000 tons of eggs in 2019, with an import value of around USD 184 million. Mexico is not a major importer of eggs worldwide as its self-sufficient in egg production; however, Mexico doesn´t export its domestic output due to infections with avian influenza in the past, which is the reason behind Mexico´s authorization for Brazilian produce.
Senegal continues to be the largest importer of Brazilian eggs with 21 % of the volume, followed by the United Arabe Emirates with 15% and Paraguay, with 13.5%. According to preliminary 2021 numbers, Brazilian import share should move with the UAE taking the lead and markets such as Japan and Sierra Leone considerably increasing their imports.
Sources:
- Avi News. "Huevos: En dos meses Brasil exportó casi 60% del volumen total despachado en 2020."
- Euro Meat News. "Boom in Brazilian egg exports."
- Industria Avicola. "Brasil, optimista con el presente y futuro de la avicultura."
- Tierra Fertil. "México es autosuficiente en huevo… e importará más de Brasil."