World meat industry news

 As the world’s large industrial players are looking anxiously at their Twitter feed for the next demand of US president Trump to renegotiate existing trade agreements or slap on extra tariffs, poultry exporters have even more worries.

Of course, the current NAFTA renegotiations could have an impact. Predictably more on US export to Mexico than vice versa, but the real pain comes from other factors. Poultry trade is finding new routes all over the place, or as stated in the words of Rabobank experts; Global poultry trade could face its largest shake-up in decades this year’.

Trump is only a minor factor in poultry trade

Russia’s (and Thailand’s) national oversupply due to many new farms coming online, is a far bigger one, as described in issue 4 of Poultry World. Furthermore, Rabobank identifies major drivers including the follow up to Brazil’s weak-flesh investigation, including restrictions on EU trade and a pending ban on stunning due to stricter halal standards in Saudi Arabia and the UAE that could affect both Brazil and the EU, are among key issues facing the global sector.

In the meanwhile, traders in Europe and the Middle East have been substituting Brazilian poultry with other supplies, mainly from Eastern Europe. Trade is a fact of life, but exploring new routes will cause headaches and also exiting entrepreneurship in the poultry industry.