South Africa overtakes US as world's no.2 poultry producer
Feed efficiency gains and lower costs drive competitive surge
2 June 2026
2 minute read
By: South Africa has overtaken the United States to become the world's second-most competitive poultry producer behind Brazil, according to the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's latest Competitiveness report.
The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) notes that while South Africa's cost of production remains higher than Brazil's, it is now lower than in the United States and substantially below that of all three European countries studied, despite the government subsidies available in those countries.
To measure technical efficiency in broiler production, the report uses feed conversion ratios (FCR), which measure the amount of feed required per kilogram of meat produced, as well as slaughter weight and age. South African producers achieved the lowest feed conversion ratio among all analyzed nations. Feed conversion efficiency has improved by 14.1% in the past decade, with producers now using less feed per kilogram of chicken meat than their global counterparts. South Africa's production cycle also averages 31.5 days, the shortest of all countries studied.
However, the short production cycle should be viewed alongside South Africa's relatively low carcass weights. Carcass weight has increased by 4.5% over the past decade but remains a relatively low 1.77 kilograms (3.9 lbs.) at slaughter, compared with between 1.9 kg (4.1 lbs.) and 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs.) in Brazil and 2.95 kg (6.5 lbs.) in the United States.
Feed and day-old chick costs together account for over 80% of total production costs in South Africa, a similar share to that observed globally. Feed costs remain the largest variable, and improvements in local soybean processing are expected to support further gains. The relative cost improvement is attributed to feed efficiency gains and lower slaughter and labor costs, which offset higher input and housing costs. In 2024, South Africa produced 1.8 million tons of broiler chicken meat, while Brazil produced 15 million tons and the United States produced 21 million tons.
South Africa currently imposes a 62% most favoured nation (MFN) duty on imports of bone-in chicken meat and an 82% duty on whole birds, alongside anti-dumping duties (ADDs) on nine trading partners: the United States, Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Only Brazil and the United States are charged the MFN tariff; EU members export poultry duty-free under the Southern African Development Community-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (SADC-EU EPA).
The ADDs were imposed after the local industry complained that imports were being dumped by trading partners, leading to the closure of some local poultry farms and job losses. The industry has since successfully contested the official five-year sunset dates of the duties.
Since the increase in the MFN tariff rate in 2020 and the imposition of additional anti-dumping duties on bone-in chicken imports in 2021 and 2023, top domestic poultry companies have reported profits, even despite a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak that severely impacted the local industry in 2023. Rainbow Chicken, following a 30-month turnaround plan that started in September 2023, reported profits more than doubling for the half-year ending December 28, 2025, with earnings reaching R669.5 million ($41 million).
Astral Foods reported a strong financial recovery for the year ending September 30, 2025, with revenue up 10.4% to R22.6 billion ($1.38 billion) and net profit up 16%. Operating profit rose 10.9% to R1.25 billion ($76 million), driven by higher broiler volumes and better sales prices in the second half of the year.
