Thailand’s chicken meat exports likely to grow by 6-7% in 2015

BANGKOK, February 5 (TNA) - The Thai Broiler Processing Exporters Association has projected that the country's exports of Thai chicken meat should grow by 6-7 per cent year-on-year this year, and its export value should expand by 5 per cent year-on-year. The association's manager, Kukrit Areepagorn, made the prediction on Thursday, elaborating that export volume of Thai chicken meat should reach 600,000 tons this year, a 6-7 per cent year-on-year growth from 570,000 tons last year, while its export value should reach 81-82 billion baht, a 5 per cent year-on-year expansion. Kukrit said he also expected South Korea would accept fresh Thai chicken in mid-2015, which would further raise exports of the Thai product. Thailand previously exported 40,000 tons of fresh chicken to South Korea, but the country can now export no more than 15,000 tons of cooked chicken to the South Korean market annually. Kukrit insisted that Thai manufacturers have complied with international standards which govern all local production processes, from farms to consumers, ensuring that local production and processing of the product are free from hazardous substances and contamination, and the European Union (EU) and Japan, which are major markets, have normally sent their authorities to check production safety in Thailand every 1-2 years. Sumate Supchukul, President of the Thai Poultry Veterinary Association, noted, meanwhile, that Thailand is the world's fourth biggest chicken meat exporter, shipping more than 500,000 tons of chicken meat and related products annually, about 80-90 per cent of which goes to the EU and Japanese markets. (TNA)