Poultry meat earnings on the increase in Ireland

Irish poultry exports had a better year in 2010 with stronger prices for fresh/chilled poultry meat helping the value of trade, according to a report by the Irish Food Board.

Some recovery in domestic production as the year progressed helped to offset reduced import volumes due to lower shipments of frozen and processed poultry to Ireland. For the year as a whole, the value of Irish poultry meat exports is estimated to have increased by 9% to €200m, the report stated.

Estimates from the EU Commission suggest that EU-27 consumption was unchanged at 11.6 million tonnes. Overall EU poultry production was around 2% higher while imports are estimated to have fallen by 14% due to new regulations regarding the use of frozen poultry. Most of the drop was evident in shipments from Brazil and Chile, which were 15% lower during the first nine months of 2010.

Irish poultry production is forecast to remain stable in 2011, which will help to maintain export volumes. However, as with other countries, feed price developments will largely dictate output as the year progresses.