Arab world buys 30% of Brazilian chicken exports

Arab world buys 30% of Brazilian chicken exports

According
to the president at the Brazilian Poultry Exporters Association, The
Middle East is the most important and oldest market in the field. In
2007, exports to the region totalled 1.2 million tonnes and upwards of
US$ 1 billion. In 2008, the organisation wants to participate in a
trade fair for foodstuffs in Dubai and in a mission to Saudi Arabia.

Marina Sarruf*
marina.sarruf@anba.com.br

São Paulo – The Arab countries buy 30% of Brazilian poultry exports.
“It is the most important and traditional market for exports from
Brazil. We have been present in the market for more than 35 years now,”
said to ANBA the president at the Brazilian Poultry Exporters
Association (Abef), Christian Lohbauer. In 2007, sales to the Middle
East totalled over US$ 1 billion.

The leading importers of Brazilian poultry meat are Saudi Arabia,
the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar. According to
Lohbauer, the variety of chicken most exported to the Arab market is
the 900-grams variety, which is smaller. “Brazil has a special
production line for this market. They are also consumers of breaded
chicken and other poultry products,” he asserted.

According to Lohbauer, the Arab market is the most sophisticated
destination for Brazilian chicken meat, alongside Japan. “Brazil is one
of the few countries that have the capacity and competitiveness
required in order to export halal meat to the Arabs,” he said. In 2007,
Saudi Arabia was the second largest importer of the Brazilian product,
at 466,000 tonnes, losing only to Japan, at 520,000 tonnes imported.
According to the president at the Abef, exports to the Middle East in
2007 totalled approximately 1.2 million tonnes.

In order to keep up the promotion work in the Arab market, the Abef
is going to participate for the second time in Gulfood, a trade fair
for the food sector, to be held in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates,
between February 24th and 27th. “It was one of the best fairs that we
ever participated in because, in addition to Arab buyers, it is
attended by Asian and European ones as well,” said Lohbauer. According
to him, since the first participation in the fair, the organisation
decided that the emirate should be a “permanent stop.”

Another idea of the Abef is to take part in a mission to Saudi Arabia in the first half of 2008, to be promoted by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce with
support from the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency
(Apex). The organisation aims to have an institutional participation,
and also to take businessmen on the mission.

According to Lohbauer, Brazil also exports poultry to other Arab
countries, such as Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. To Egypt, however, sales are
periodical. According to him, the Brazilian product is also distributed
to the Arab market via Dubai, which is a large distribution centre to
the region, and via Kuwait.