South Africa increased imports of poultry meat for the first time in five years

The largest share of imports, 62.6 percent, came from mechanically separated chicken, 18.5 percent from by-products, and the rest from fillets and other types of products. Both products are especially in demand for the African market as a source of healthy and cheap protein, and in the case of semi-finished products, also as a quick cooking method. Among the exporters of these products to the African state, Brazil is the leader with a share of 80 percent of total supplies, another seven percent was taken by the countries of the European Union, the rest by  the United States  and a number of other countries.

The states mainly import thighs, drumsticks and the famous legs, which in our country are also called “Bush legs,” into South Africa. Other exporters have a wider range of products. However, they face certain supply problems. In particular, the EU and Brazil have reduced their volumes due to anti-dumping duties on their products. The United States is not subject to these measures, since since 2016 a serious duty-free quota has been applied to its products. The parties made this decision as part of the extension of the AGOA deal. This is short for "African Growth and Opportunity Act", which translates as "law on growth and opportunity in Africa." it was adopted back in May 2000 and is associated with providing assistance to the economies of sub-Saharan Africa.

The news agency also recalls that a decline in chicken imports into South Africa in 2018 began to be observed after a record figure of 566 thousand tons at that time. The reasons for the further decline were cited by agency analysts as two economic (depreciation of the South African currency, the rand, and an increase in import tariffs) and two more market ones (outbreaks of bird flu in exporting countries such as the usa, Argentina and European countries, as well as disruptions in production due to CORONAVIRUS ).