Europe dumping chickens in South Africa

THE South African Poultry Association (SAPA) have slammed European chicken producers for dumping chicken pieces into the South African market place.

SAPA Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Lovell said recent information from a top research institute in the Netherlands, confirmed their argument that European Union countries were selling chicken portions to importers below the cost of production.

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“It also destroys the arguments of critics who claim that the South African industry’s woes are due to high feed costs because of the drought,” he said.

Lovell added the latest data supports information from a 2013 report. He said that the country produces chickens at lower prices than EU countries. Despite this, in 2015 South Africa imported large amounts of chicken from Europe despite the higher production costs.

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The recent data showed that South Africa slipped one place in 2015 to become the sixth cheapest producer of chickens globally.

“This was due to increased feed costs because of the drought. However our producers are more efficient than those from Europe, even with the effects of the drought. This chicken dumping has caused great harm to South African chicken producers, resulting in production cuts and job losses,” accused the SAPA CEO.

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