The expected rise in production is due to potential growth in export demand driven by the robust prices for live broilers and chicken meat and the anticipated increase in chick production capacity.

Forecasts for 2016 show similar growth for Thai chicken meat production. This year, Thailand’s broiler industry successfully avoided the potential supply bottleneck which could have occurred after the Thai Government imposed an import ban on chicken genetics from the United States in December 2014.

Thailand managed to switch to genetic supplies from other sources, especially genetics from France, Netherlands, and Denmark. As a result, when combined with the continued increases in exports to all existing markets and prevailing low feed costs, chicken meat production for 2016 is estimated to grow by 5 per cent over the 2015 level.

Reflecting trends in the tourism industry and an anticipated recovery in the Thai economy, FAS predicted that domestic consumption of chicken meat should increase by 4-5 per cent in 2017, as compared to 3 per cent in 2016.

The appreciation of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar and decreased competition from China helped Thailand’s chicken meat exports to grow, especially to the Japanese market.

Total exports are estimated to further increase over 2015 levels by 8 per cent to 670,000 MT in 2016. However, the growth in exports to the EU market is relatively limited due to the EU quota allocated to Thailand, increased competition from producing countries in Eastern Europe, and the unfavourable EU economic environment.

Further Reading

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