Prices in the Polish poultry industry have dropped by tens of percent in recent days due to oversupply. The export of chicken meat is already generating losses.
Now that the first outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu has officially been confirmed in Poland, further blows to Polish poultry exports are expected.
Prices are on average about 33% lower than last year, according to the Polish National Chamber of Poultry and Animal Feed Producers. Although the poor situation of Polish poultry is partly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Polish industry itself has contributed to this poor situation, according to agricultural counselors from the Dutch embassy in Warsaw.
After the first COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, most European countries reduced poultry production, but Poland increased its poultry production. According to Eurostat data, industrial poultry slaughter in Poland this year already reached 1,761 thousand tons, an increase of 3.43% compared to the same period last year.
According to poultry market analysts, even greater threats loom for the poultry industry in Poland. The first challenge concerns Brexit. The United Kingdom is the second largest importer of Polish poultry, where next year import duties will almost certainly have to be paid.
The second challenge concerns the still-present ban on the use of GMO raw materials in animal feed in Poland. Just this week, the Polish parliament (for the fifth time) extended the temporary permission for the use of genetically modified chicken feed.
Polish politicians have also yet to make a decision on a new, stricter animal welfare law that would largely end ritual slaughter without stunning. As a result, such threats continue to hang over the market, posing a significant risk for developing future strategies for the agricultural sector.