ASF scare to drive up poultry imports

BUT LOCAL GROWERS ASSURE SUFFICIENT SUPPLY

Consumers may start buying more chicken amid the African swine fever that hit the country.

The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council expects a continued increase in the importation of poultry and poultry products coming from the Philippines as the ASF is driving down the demand and supply of pork, primarily in Asia.

“Chicken is the natural substitute for pork and the demand for protein will increase. We cannot say yet how much as ASF in the Philippines is still in the early stages. We have to wait and see,” USAPEEC representative Garrett Borkhuis said in a recent meeting in Washington.

“The Philippines is a strong trading partner, one of our top 10. We don’t see any reason why the trend will change. Poultry [exports] will increase,” he said.

USAPEEC is a non-profit, industrysponsored trade organization dedicated to increasing exports of US poultry and egg food products in all foreign markets.

Last year, total US poultry exports to the Philippines amounted to $124 million, up 14 percent from 2017.

Bulk of this was broiler meat worth $106 million. Other imports were live poultry, egg and egg products, turkey meat and other poultry meat.

Chicken imports consistently rose over the last seven years from just 135 million kilograms in 2012 to more than 300 million kilos last year.

However, the United Broilers and Raisers Association said such claims on higher poultry imports may be too premature.

“It’s too early to make those claims. We need to give the government the time to address the problem,” UBRA president Elias Jose Inciong told The STAR.

“Local production is normal. Local and imported frozen inventories are at high levels,” he added.

Latest data from the National Meat Inspection Service showed that inventory of dressed chicken in cold storages was 28,710 metric tons, up 11 percent from last year.

The Philippines is one of the top importers of chicken in the world alongside Japan, Mexico, Hong Kong, South Africa, China and Russia.

USAPEEC said the increase in poultry production globally is seen as broiler meat is the most competitive protein value. It is also more energy efficient to produce compared to beef and pork, requiring less water, less arable land and smaller carbon footprint.

“The world’s population is expected to increase by two billion in the next 30 years, population increases especially in developing countries. This means greater demand for poultry meat as an affordable protein,” USAPEEC said.

In the Philippines, chicken production increased three percent to 477,110 MT in the second quarter, driven by the expansion of broiler farm capacity, improvement of farm facilities, opening of new commercial broiler farms in several areas, and the increasing demand from households, food processors and hotel establishments.

Total chicken inventory was estimated at 192 million birds, up 2.8 percent year-on-year.

Layer and broiler chickens posted increments while native chickens went down by 1.5 percent.