In January this year 316,800 tons were shipped, 14.1 per cent higher than that recorded in the first month of last year, surveys from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA) showed.

The good result of shipments influenced the balance of business in monetary value, despite a poor foreign exchange performance. Altogether, poultry exports made 1.827 billion Brazilian Real, 40.4 per cent more than in January 2015.

"Several important markets such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, China, Hong Kong, among others, increased their purchases for the month of January 2015.

"The confidence of importers in the quality and health status of our production is favoured, in this time of great concern about the impact of the substantial increase in production cost," said Francisco Turra, chief executive of ABPA.

Mr Turra was referring to the high recorded early this year, in corn prices in several producing squares.

"The harvest season began in good condition. Parts of the carryover stocks are already being made available for sale. This can generate an improved picture of the costs, "he adds.

Despite the optimism with the likely expansion of grain supply, explained ABPA's vice president of poultry, Ricardo Santin, the long period of high grain price means the transfer of extra costs to the importer and the domestic consumer is inevitable.

"There was loss of competitiveness in the commercial setting with the increase in production cost. This rebalancing cost and impact margin inevitably cause the global repositioning of chicken meat prices," said Mr Santin.