Ministry imposes restriction on chicken meat exports

ANKARA

The Trade Ministry has imposed temporary curbs on the export of chicken meat in the face of the rising prices.

According to the new regulation, which takes effect as of May 1, chicken meat exports will be restricted to a maximum of 10,000 tons monthly, and to 80,000 tons in total by the end of this year.

In the first months of 2024, the rate of increase in chicken meat prices has exceeded the headline inflation and costs, such as feed and energy, and monthly changes in the exchange rates, the ministry said in a statement.

“This situation showed that normal market conditions and normal pricing behavior were disrupted,” the statement added.

Following the studies carried out on price formation, production and exports, it was found that changes in consumption habits and domestic demand brought about speculative price increases, the ministry said.

Those analyses showed that in order to protect consumer welfare in the domestic market, it is necessary to enact some regulations for the export of this product to prevent supply-side problems, explaining why it is resorting to impose restrictions.

Türkiye’s chicken meat production declined by 3.7 percent last year from 2022 to 2.32 million tons. The number of chickens slaughtered was down 5.7 percent to 1.27 million.

In the first two months of 2024, chicken meat production grew 10 percent year-on-year to around 405,000 tons, showed the latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute.