Covid takes 1.5% bite out of Thai chicken exports
The volume of Thai frozen-and-processed chicken exports fell 0.9 per cent to 618,000 tonnes in the first eight months (January-August) from last year, said Kukrit Areepakorn, head of the Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association. Meanwhile the total value fell 1.5 per cent to Bt72.2 billion.
“Demand in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the European Union has dropped due to Covid-19 restrictions shutting restaurants,” he explained. “The situation is even worse in Japan, our biggest export market, since they called off the 2020 Olympic Games meaning they cancelled orders of chicken from us that were expected to feed participants and tourists.”
However, he said demand has risen continually in Chinese markets as an outbreak of African Swine Fever there has driven people to consume chicken instead of pork.
“But Chinese consumers prefer chicken’s feet and wings – parts for which Thailand still has a lower production capacity than the US and Brazil, who are our main competitors in China.”
Chicken prices in two of Thailand’s major markets had also fallen since early 2020, he said. “In Japan, which takes 45 per cent of Thailand’s chicken exports, the price has dropped from $2,500-$2,800 per tonne to $2,100 per tonne. Prices in the European Union, which takes 34 per cent of our exports, have fallen from $3,000 per tonne to $2,500-$2,600 per tonne.”
He said the association might have to revise downwards its current 2020 projection of 980,000 tonnes of chicken worth Bt120 billion.