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15 Sep 2005

Agriculture

Chicken Products: Recovery in 2005, Likely Continuing in 2006

คะแนนเฉลี่ย

Recovery in Thai chicken products are being manifested in 2005, where broiler output is expected to reach 819.49 million in 2005, compared to a total output of 694.36 million birds in 2004, representing an increase of 18.0 percent. This is because of the fact that growers and related businesses have placed greater emphasis on rearing quality rather than quantity. Domestic consumption has returned to normalcy, while exports have increased over time. Although exports are restricted to processed products only, due to the Avian Influenza threat, most Thai exporters have adjusted their production and invested more in processing plants. Meanwhile, foreign consumers are increasingly turning to processed chicken products. It is expected that chicken product exports for 2005 will equal 280,000 tons, or USD850 Million (approximately THB34,000 Million), an increase in volume and value of 46.7 percent and 51.3 percent, respectively, over that of 2004. It will be, in fact, a challenge to promote chicken product exports of as high as USD850 Million in 2005, as exports during August-December will have to reach an average of USD94.38 Million per month, compared to a monthly average of only USD54.0 Million during January-July. Factors contributing to chicken product exports include ?

- Consumers in foreign countries increasingly accepting and eating processed chicken products, especially in Thailand's major export markets of Japan and the EU.

- It is expected that, with the festive seasons at year-end, Thai chicken product exports for the year will have increased over that of last year.

- Exporters have successfully penetrated into some new markets in Africa and the Middle East, where purchasing power is high. These are future markets for the products from Thailand, being on the verge of recovery from marked slowdowns in 2004. Another new market is Canada, thanks to continuous growth in exports sent there.

Another piece of good news for Thai chicken product exports is that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the EU must cancel its import tariffs on salted prepared uncooked chicken meat from Thailand and Brazil, resulting in a drop in import tariffs from 58.9 percent having been in effect since 2002 to only 15.4 percent. In addition, Japan's import tariffs on chicken products from Thailand are likely to drop in accordance with the Thai-Japanese Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

It is expected that the average output of chicken meat production in 2006 will increase 20 percent over the year before, thanks largely to attractive prices and continuing export growth. Chicken product exports will be as high as 400,000 tons, worth USD1 Billion, being an increase of 42.8 and 17.6 percent in volume and value, respectively.

Next year, Thailand will be able to export its frozen chicken products, when Thailand has been declared a bird flu-free zone, and importing countries have accepted the zoning of chicken-rearing farms in Thailand. There will be some windfall benefits from the marked expansion by large producers for chicken meat processing, and import tariff reductions as a result of the Thailand-Japan FTA. This includes tariff reductions for salted prepared uncooked chicken meat from Thailand to the EU, and the possibility that the USA will open its market to boiled chicken meat from Thailand, in exchange for Thailand's cancellation of its ban on beef imports from the USA after the mad cow outbreak.

Agriculture