Polish poultry industry loses profitability

The poultry industry in Poland is under pressure as profitability in the sector is declining rapidly. Within a month and a half, slaughter poultry prices have been falling and profitability is in question as feed prices are rising. The National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers predicts that the situation for broiler chicken producers will continue to deteriorate, and purchase prices will decline dynamically.

“After the first few months of the year, marked by optimism for the poultry industry, we are in the worst period. The sources of this deterioration can be seen in the foreign trade conducted by the EU as a whole. First of all, import prices of poultry meat from third countries have fallen sharply. This means that Polish exports to Europe must also lower prices because we are competing for the same market segment,” explained Katarzyna Gawronska, director of the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers (KIPDiP).

Before Brexit, the UK was the second largest market for Polish poultry products. In 2020, Poland exported 134,500 tons of poultry meat to the UK, worth almost PLN 1.44 billion (€316 million). The share of the UK in total poultry meat exports from Poland amounted to almost 14%. Ukraine and Brazil currently compete for the UK poultry market, with South American producers increasing their shipments to the UK by 39% in the last couple of months.

Meanwhile, EU poultry exports are declining compared to last year, which is also bad news for Polish poultry producers, who supply their products to the single market - about 80% of poultry meat produced in Poland. 

According to industry sources, the most likely scenario in the next few weeks on the Polish broiler and chicken meat market is a systematic deterioration in the situation of breeding plants and slaughterhouses.

The blame for this state of affairs - in addition to the problems associated with current events in the European Union - also lies with seasonal factors that traditionally do not favor the industry at this time of year. Research from the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers includes a caveat that future projections may not come true if a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic breaks out around the world . Interestingly, the SARS-Cov-2 epidemic is a much more devastating event for the Polish poultry industry than bird flu, the report concludes.