Avian flu: Brazil has never had such a high risk for the disease, says Rabobank analyst

In conversation with Agro TimesWagner Yanaguizawa, animal protein economic analyst at Rabobank said that Brazil has never had such a high risk for avian flu. The expert also said that, at the moment, the beef embargo on China has not resulted in significant impacts on chicken meat prices.

“The big point of attention for chicken meat is the issue of avian flu. These are unprecedented cases in South America that started at the end of October 2022, we already have 9 countries affected, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina have already registered cases in commercial farms and suspended exports, and Brazil has never been at such a high risk of entry of this virus in national territory”, he warns.

Still, the Rabobank does not work with the entry of the virus into the industry.

“Our production, which is concentrated in the south of Brazil, has intensified animal health protocols in recent months. Even if some wild bird enters the country, this should not impact international production, but if it does, there will be a great impact on the price of all proteins”, he adds.

Exports

This Monday (20) the Foreign Trade Secretariat (Secex) released data with poultry meat shipments in the third week of March.

Exports of poultry meat and its edible offal, fresh, chilled or frozen from Brazil, yielded US$548.36 million in the first 13 working days of March, with a daily average of $42.18 million.

The total quantity exported by the country reached 291,347 thousand tonswith a daily average of 22,411 thousand tons. The average price per ton was $1,882.20.

Compared to March 2022, there was a 32.4% increase in the average daily value, a 28.2% gain in the average daily quantity and a 3.3% increase in the average price.