The value of US poultry, eggs and processed egg product exports in 2008 set a record at US$4.7 billion, topping the 2007 figure by 25 per cent.The USA Poultry and Egg Export Council said yesterday that it was the second consecutive year for record poultry exports.
Also, for the first time, exports of all poultry and egg products in 2008 topped US$5 billion. (A$7.84 billion) The total, at US$5.05 billion, was up 24 per cent from the previous year and includes non-food items such as live breeding stock, hatching eggs and feathers and down, according to trade data compiled by the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service, USAPEEC said.
Broiler meat exports, not including chicken paws (feet), for 2008 set a new record in both quantity and value, USAPEEC said. The volume reached 3.2 million metric tonnes, up 18 per cent from 2007, while the value reached US$3.5 billion, US$777 million or 28 per cent above the previous year, said Renan Zhuang, director of economic analysis at the USAPEEC.
US turkey meat exports also established records in both volume and value in 2008. - "for US broilers, exports have become increasingly less concentrated," said Zhuang.
"Volume to the top three markets last year - Russia, China and Mexico - totaled 1,464,625 tonnes. The combined share of broiler exports to these three largest markets was 46 per cent in 2008, compared with 52 per cent a year earlier. While export volume to Russia for the year decreased by 4%, volume to China and Mexico increased by 12 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively."
Monthly US broiler meat shipments to all destinations in 2008 increased year-on-year over 2007 in every month except November, Zhuang said. Also, broiler meat export prices in the second half of 2008 increased about 6 per cent from the first half of 2008, even as the world economy entered a severe economic downturn.
By Curt Thacker, Dow Jones Newswire
