Revenues were up 15.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, coming up to US$626.7 million during February.

For the full year, shipments of chicken reached 582,000 tons, partly offsetting the fall in exports in January, which was 11.6 per cent, but still registering a negative balance of 4.7 per cent compared to the two first months of 2012.

Francisco Turra, CEO of UBABEF, said: "There is remarkable stability and strong oscillation results in the performance comparison of the first two months of the year. The important and fundamental point is that, amid these oscillations, we have maintained our market share, particularly among the largest importers of chicken meat from Brazil."