China hits Brazil’s poultry with anti-dumping deposits

The Chinese Commerce Ministry said that from this weekend (9 June) companies importing Brazilian chicken will be required to pay deposits ranging from 18.8% to 48.4% of the value of their shipments.

Chinese producers: Substantially damaged

It follows a preliminary ruling by the ministry that said Chinese producers had been “substantially damaged” by Brazilian shipments between 2013 and 2016 when the country supplied more than half of the nation’s imports.

The measures cover products supplied by leading Brazilian exporters including JBS and BRF, according to Reuters.

The ministry said on Friday: “During the period of damage investigated, the quantity of imported products and market share from Brazil have continuously increased, and the prices of similar domestic products have been drastically reduced, causing serious damage to domestic industries.”

US pushing for China to reopen to broilers imports

Brazilian commentators noted that the announcement of the preliminary results of the probe, which began last August, came at a time when the US is pushing for China to reopen its market to US broiler imports.

It is the latest setback for the Brazilian poultry industry following a ban on EU imports imposed on a number of leading Brazilian poultry plants over food safety, a wave of strikes that has hit the sector and rising grain prices.

Brazil’s poultry and pork processors association APBA has estimated that the total losses to the sector from the strike are around $826.7m, although it believes the strikes now to be over.