Poultry shortage in Thailand
The high rate of COVID-19 infections in Thailand is taking a toll on the poultry industry, one of the most lucrative sectors in the country. At the end of July, 3,000 workers in a huge plant were found infected with the virus and the unit was quarantined. Also, other processing plants in the country have reduced their operations since mid-June to keep the workforce safe.
These created a shortage of poultry in the Thai market that spiked the prices by at least $500/ton, according to a source quoted by the Global Times newspaper. However, China, one of the largest export markets for Thai chicken meat, is increasing controls and restrictions applied for suppliers which are confronted with COVID-19 outbreaks.
"Due to the recent COVID-19 clusters in China the regulation department has tightened supervision and inspection on import meat and increased the level of disinfection processes. Many restaurants are unwilling to use imported chicken meat. We still have some inventory for the quarterly orders, however, there is no new source of supply," mentioned a Chinese trader.
According to the latest statistics of the Broiler Processing Exporters Association, China's imports of Thai chicken soared by 82% last year. Public data show that China's import volume has increased significantly every year since China resumed imports of frozen chicken meat from Thailand again in March 2018.
In 2019, China imported 65,420 tonnes of chicken products from Thailand, with a value of more than 5.6 billion THB ($170 million), an increase of 252% year-on-year from 2018. At present, China has become the second-largest export market of Thai frozen chicken products after Japan. Thailand is also the fourth largest import source of frozen chicken products in China, and the number of qualified Thai chicken importers to China has increased from to 43 from 7 in 2018.
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