GLOBAL POULTRY TRENDS - Asia, a Key Chicken Meat Trading Region

Asia is a major poultry meat trading region, as a big importer of some products and an exporter of others, writes industry analyst Terry Evans.
calendar icon 20 October 2015
clock icon 12 minute read

Poultry accounts for more than 40 per cent of the world meat trade. Discounting trade between EU states, the FAO’s Food Outlook considers that trade in poultry meat will rise by 2.6 per cent this year to reach 13.1 million tonnes.

On a global basis chicken meat accounts for more than 90 per cent of the poultry meat trade. For all poultry meat, Asian exports are expected to amount to 2.1 million tonnes while imports could exceed 6.9 million tonnes.

Asia plays an important role in the world trade in both fresh/frozen and prepared/processed chicken. On the fresh/frozen side this is the major importing region, while in the prepared/processed sector Asia is the leading exporter (Table 5).

Table 5. World trade in fresh/frozen chicken meat ('000 tonnes)
Exports2000200520082009201020112012
Africa 9.5 4.8 9.5 46.3 61.5 14.4 14.3
Americas 3627.4 5517.2 7311.6 7235.3 7260.7 7539.5 7733.0
Asia 1432.2 420.6 765.8 876.5 1188.0 1373.1 1287.4
Europe 1805.1 2137.3 2344.7 2592.1 3115.7 3477.8 3547.9
Oceania 14.3 21.8 31.0 33.3 29.2 32.8 39.4
WORLD 6888.4 8101.7 10462.6 10783.5 11655.1 12437.6 12621.9
Imports
Africa 259.0 512.9 718.2 861.9 1069.0 1283.4 1550.4
Americas 556 912.2 1375.6 1384.4 1493.8 1505.2 1584.9
Asia 3276.7 2767.2 4274.9 4650.3 5021.5 5780.0 5328.6
Europe 1811.2 3223.6 3374.2 3095.0 2879.7 2790.3 3029.9
Oceania 26.4 35.5 38.1 44.0 48.8 59.1 66.4
WORLD 5929.3 7451.4 9781.0 10035.5 10512.8 11418.1 11560.1
World trade in prepared/processed chicken meat ('000 tonnes)
Exports 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Africa 1.8 2.1 1.4 1 1 0.7 3
Americas 92.9 270.2 427.1 418.5 427.6 424.8 430
Asia 212.4 515.8 599.3 603.4 699.5 811.7 828.4
Europe 260.8 432.7 635 680.3 694.8 746.3 787.5
Oceania 2.2 1.8 1 1.8 2.9 3.4 5.2
WORLD 570.1 1222.6 1663.8 1704.9 1825.9 1986.9 2054
Imports
Africa 1.9 7 8.9 7.3 7.7 10.7 14.5
Americas 67.8 90.8 127.8 122.6 138.7 154.8 160.63
Asia 186.7 389.6 412.6 429.9 538.2 648.9 637.5
Europe 304.3 677.6 932.2 948 1009.2 1075 1139
Oceania 1.3 2 4.2 5.5 8.9 10 13.2
WORLD 561.9 1167 1485.6 1513.2 1702.7 1893.7 1964.6
Source: FAO

It is apparent from this table that the world total quantities of fresh/frozen and prepared/processed chicken exported and imported in a year do not balance. There are many reasons for this including:

  • Some countries provide data on a general rather than specific product basis.
  • Data may be presented on a financial or market year rather than a calendar year.
  • There is a time lag between product leaving a country in say December and arriving at its destination in say January of the following year.
  • There can be a misclassification of a product between the exporter and importer.
  • There can be place-of-origin/final destination inconsistencies. For example country (A) may report that the final destination is country C, but the goods actually reach C via another country (B). As a result country C may report the place of origin of the goods was country B.

In addition, goods can be lost during transport, while occasionally differences can occur due to a typing or calculation error. And, in some instances, exports may not be declared to circumvent an embargo or avoid tax payments.

Between 2000 and 2012 exports of fresh and frozen chicken (including trade between EU member States) increased by 83 per cent to reach 12.6 million tonnes. In broad terms, the volumes shipped from Asia are relatively small showing little change between 2010 and 2012 at around 1.3 million tonnes or around 10 per cent of the global total.

The major exporter in 2012 was Hong Kong selling some 571,000 tonnes, while mainland China shipped 147,000 tonnes (Table 6).

Table 6. Exports of fresh/frozen chicken meat from Asia (tonnes)
Country2000200520082009201020112012
Azerbaijan 0 0 28 0 322 121 0
Bahrain 0 482 282 992 1037 355 159
Brunei Darussalam 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
China, mainland 372678 127630 126199 131642 164698 168243 147275
China, Hong Kong SAR 775005 167844 388993 461161 695393 761453 570869
China, Macao SAR 33 15 13 20 0 22 0
China, Taiwan Prov 1004 880 509 2447 3525 3413 2989
Cyprus 283 68 962 958 1305 1019 1167
Georgia 471 795 264 172 712 786 355
India 84 476 1000 839 2234 8767 4015
Indonesia 744 0 80 0 78 17 11
Iran Isl Rep 7211 15150 24679 399 25484 27246 41917
Israel 29 0 1536 2316 1055 367 664
Japan 3339 1926 6927 8699 10704 4206 7048
Jordan 0 1909 20000 21802 19231 16472 18136
Kazakhstan 54 149 2498 52 430 10 1409
Korea Rep 1381 2121 8056 10955 20197 22779 18333
Kuwait 1178 28 24 765 172 457 801
Lebanon 201 520 679 937 1264 1864 1981
Malaysia 3023 291 2773 4333 7279 7740 8211
Occ Pal Ter 50 130 350 350 350 350 9066
Oman 100 7066 9386 31262 12174 11800 8740
Pakistan 0 3 1 0 501 1718 1456
Philippines 7 3861 3267 4529 5505 9900 5800
Qatar 12 248 1060 999 999 999 999
Saudi Arabia 17220 17371 9875 19030 8336 10972 12053
Singapore 3284 11439 8846 7162 8798 10267 9818
Sri Lanka 51 4 206 584 2259 1812 970
Syrian Arab Rep 0 1 26813 8779 6673 548 548
Thailand 240905 4547 23323 25227 33275 51245 93188
Turkey 3659 44317 78519 114166 138395 234148 300596
United Arab Emirates 130 11317 18567 15528 15283 13883 18266
Viet Nam 0 0 0 246 292 103 476
Yemen 0 1 78 105 105 31 53
ASIA 1432154 420589 765793 876456 1187960 1373113 1287407
Source: FAO

The most remarkable aspect of this trade is the way in which sales from Turkey have escalated from just 3,700 tonnes in 2000 to more than 300,000 tonnes in 2012. Her biggest customer in that year was Iraq taking 165,200 tonnes or 55 per cent of the total, followed by Hong Kong (24,300 tonnes), Iran (18,300 tonnes), Tajikistan (13,700 tonnes), Libya (12,800 tonnes), the Congo (12,500 tonnes) and Viet Nam (9,500 tonnes).

Asia plays a more dominant role regarding imports of fresh/frozen chicken. Here, having reached a new “high” of almost 5.8 million tonnes in 2011, the following year witnessed an 8 per cent cut back to 5.3 million tonnes (Table 7), which represented 42 per cent of total global exports of 12.6 million tonnes.

Table 7. Imports of fresh/frozen chicken meat into Asia (tonnes)
Country2000200520082009201020112012
Afghanistan 25 23192 32316 23056 38591 51004 21750
Armenia 13780 12878 36044 27234 35475 37257 32495
Azerbaijan 13100 4268 12094 11393 12776 15047 10076
Bahrain 18182 28399 28351 28545 36148 35307 30812
Bangladesh 0 52 1 0 0 0 0
Bhutan 20 0 145 163 384 255 598
Brunei Darussalam 920 214 175 721 447 877 609
Cambodia 71 2 228 418 178 332 296
China, mainland 799742 370418 787196 722242 515536 385498 473157
China, Hong Kong SAR 993778 455394 653408 715341 1011178 1176978 850396
China, Macao SAR 4883 7200 11261 11023 11451 12159 12502
China, Taiwan Prov 12250 74944 182769 260077 110314 108039 122933
Cyprus 35 1796 4583 4742 5743 5958 6622
Georgia 16386 16218 36012 38254 39558 43963 43677
Indonesia 14017 3817 5294 2687 125 9 7
Iran Isl Rep 22656 0 25484 4831 29719 64569 46806
Iraq 0 30887 174435 319700 262543 371978 352706
Japan 568272 419119 426092 331091 420253 471841 425423
Jordan 363 11911 41697 39363 46953 47117 55621
Kazakhstan 19885 108656 131748 108120 100000 156756 191131
Korea Rep 66082 46520 57881 61782 92881 116849 115564
Kuwait 57972 161855 191942 220729 184506 159397 122395
Kyrgyzstan 1970 11812 40325 18901 86804 72825 66282
Lao Peo Dem Rep 8 7 0 0 0 0 0
Lebanon 3 380 2016 6392 8829 3719 10496
Malaysia 29876 17133 31705 27783 36097 39822 44845
Maldives 1200 3866 4073 4565 6175 6847 6677
Mongolia 18 438 1817 1498 4479 5210 4999
Myanmar 5 0 33 2259 3279 558 97
Nepal 0 50 1 0 196 313 311
Occ Pal Ter 3958 9000 8200 9400 11000 8400 7350
Oman 24566 51927 75500 134911 74126 90060 176469
Pakistan 0 0 6 0 5 6 90
Philippines 17519 26288 43758 61463 98005 111855 107208
Qatar 23905 25534 44423 67881 51992 74720 82364
Saudi Arabia 276467 450842 454234 554709 645012 737263 743338
Singapore 83887 91228 104089 99029 104665 111714 118846
Sri Lanka 1321 1580 1940 844 841 1891 800
Syrian Arab Rep 0 127 1079 20 2845 8581 9855
Tajikstan 415 9616 24585 24066 235568 23773 19286
Thailand 22 11 23 24 310 1162 990
Timor - Leste 4100 4500 4500 4500 4500 4617 4531
Turkey 0 143 637 1142 446 539 385
Turkmenistan 4700 1317 6683 5650 2000 588 7997
United Arab Emirates 110900 170336 274446 311669 285569 319366 355847
Uzbekistan 9167 6475 3638 3222 4758 11089 15013
Viet Nam 50 5373 235209 269783 506971 802233 515697
Yemen 60196 101441 72862 109059 104280 81683 113215
ASIA 3276674 2767164 4274938 4650282 5021511 5780024 5328564
Source: FAO

In 2012 Hong Kong was the biggest buyer of fresh/frozen product taking 850,000 tonnes, of which more than 300,000 tonnes came from the USA, almost 290,000 tonnes from Brazil and 122,000 tonnes from mainland China.

The second key buyer was Saudi Arabia with 743,000 tonnes of which nearly 573,000 tonnes were purchased from Brazil and 147,000 tonnes from France. Other leading Asian buyers were, Viet Nam (516,000 tonnes), the United Arab Emirates (356,000 tonnes), Iraq (353,000 tonnes) and Oman (176,000 tonnes).

More recent figures on exports and imports of broiler meat to and from Asia are provided by the USDA (Tables 8 and 9). World broiler exports are assessed at around 10.4 million tonnes, though the trade between European Union member states is excluded from this figure, though the data does include prepared chicken along with fresh/frozen sales.

In Asia the key exporting countries identified are Thailand, China and Turkey (Table 8 and figure 8), their combined sales rising from 776,000 tonnes in 2000 to 1.36 million tonnes in 2014, while the forecast for 2015 shows a small increase to 1.37 million tonnes.

The breakdown of the total reveals Thailand and Turkey have expanded this business during the review period while exports from China have shown little change since 2011 and are well below what was achieved back in 2000.

Table 8. Leading exporters of broiler meat in Asia ('000 tonnes)
200020052006200720082009201020112012201320142015F
Thailand 310 240 261 296 383 379 432 467 538 504 546 570
China 464 332 322 358 285 291 379 422 411 420 430 430
Turkey 2 30 23 26 42 86 110 206 284 337 379 370
Total of above 776 602 606 680 710 756 921 1095 1233 1261 1355 1370
F = forecast, prepared products are included but chicken paws are not.
Source: USDA

Figure 8. Turkey is rapidly becoming a key broiler meat exporter in Asia ('000 tonnes).

Thailand’s exports look to be well on their way to hitting 600,000 tonnes soon, while the USDA considers that Turkey’s broiler meat shipments which reached 379,000 tonnes in 2014, could decline slightly this year to 370,000 tonnes.

Purchases by the major broiler meat importers in Asia (Table 9 and figure 9), have increased by a little over a million tonnes a year since 2000, though the total has hardly changed since 2011 around an average of 3.1 million tonnes.

Table 9. Leading broiler meat importers in Asia ('000 tonnes)
200020052006200720082009201020112012201320142015F
Japan 721 748 716 696 737 645 789 895 877 854 888 895
Saudi Arabia 347 485 423 470 510 605 652 745 750 838 761 790
Iraq 21 139 124 186 227 397 522 598 610 673 722 710
Hong Kong 168 222 243 215 236 253 295 410 300 272 299 320
China 588 219 343 482 399 401 286 238 254 244 260 215
United Arab Emirates 112 167 182 238 240 240 195 213 223 217 175 181
Total of above 1957 1980 2031 2287 2349 2541 2739 3099 3016 3081 3159 3111
F = forecast, prepared products are included but chicken paws are not.
Source: USDA

Figure 9. Rapid increase in chicken meat purchases by Saudi Arabia and Iraq ('000 tonnes).

Since 2011 the quantities of broiler meat bought by Japan have shown little movement since 2010 at just under 900,000 tonnes a year.

While imports by Saudi Arabia declined in 2014, a recovery is anticipated in 2015 which will bring the total close to 800,000 tonnes.

Iraq’s imports climbed annually to reach 722,000 tonnes in 2014 though some reduction is forecast for this year.

Although imports by mainland China have tended to decline long-term forecasts point to a marked expansion in this trade.

Because Hong Kong re-exports much of its imports, the USDA considers Hong Kong’s imports to be the quantities imported less the quantities exported. This explains the large difference between the FAO’s 850,000 tonnes in 2012 and USDA figures for Hong Kong’s imports of 300,000 tonnes in that year.

World trade in prepared/processed chicken meat reached a record almost 2.1 million tonnes in 2012, equivalent to around 3.1 million tonnes of fresh product (Table 5).

Asia is the leading exporting region in this field selling some 830,000 tonnes or 40 per cent of the world total in 2012. Two countries dominate this scene accounting for 91 per cent of the business – Thailand with 464,000 tonnes and mainland China with 287,000 tonnes.

Thailand’s main customers in 2012 were Japan (221,000 tonnes) and the United Kingdom (133,000 tonnes). Japan was also China’s biggest buyer purchasing 232,000 tonnes.

Asia’s imports of these products have accelerated from less than 200,000 tonnes back in 2000 to 650,000 tonnes and 640,000 tonnes in 2011 and 2012 respectively. In the latter year Japan was the top buyer taking almost 460,000 tonnes or 72 per cent of the regional total. Hong Kong came next with purchases of just under 100,000 tonnes.

October 2015

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