Yara Aquino
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - There are no signs of bird flu in Brazil, but its presence in being felt. Bird flu, which has already had a negative impact on chicken sales in Europe and Asia, is beginning to exert pressure in Brazil. And the pressure is not positive.

The Chicken Exporter Association (Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Exportadores de Frango) (ABEF), reports that while exports remain strong (up 14% in January), it is feeling pressure as it negotiates contracts for future sales and especially on prices. With bird flu shutting down markets in various countries, supply is greater than demand and buyers want lower prices, points out Ricardo Gonçalves, the ABEF executive president.

According to the Poultry Union (União Brasileira dos Avicultores (UBA), the country exports around half of its poultry production, with a 43% market share of poultry sales worldwide. For example, fully 40% of all baby chicks born in Brazil are exported. Ariel Mendes of UBA says that the pressure on prices is bad news. It costs R1.20 to produce a kilo of live chicken, he says, and in São Paulo the market price has already fallen to R$1. "We are operating in the red," he declared.

Translation: Allen Bennett