South Africa’s fight against dumped chicken imports is far from over.
Key takeaways:
- Import resurgence: After years of decline, chicken imports have trended upward since 2025 – a potential new “onslaught” for local producers.
- Surge in frozen portions: Bone-in imports (leg quarters) jumped 136% in the first two months of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
- Offal at record highs: Imports of products like heads and feet have doubled since 2017, reaching a record 103 000 tonnes last year.
- Critical crossroads: With monthly increases since September, the industry is testing whether current anti-dumping duties are sufficient to protect domestic farmers.
After years of decline from a peak in 2018, chicken imports have increased on an annual basis in 2025 and at the start of 2026. In the sensitive category of bone-in imports – the leg quarters and other portions that compete with locally produced frozen packs – chicken imports in the first two months of this year are up by 136% over the same period in 2025.
Volumes are small compared to the flood of imports that sent the local poultry industry into crisis in 2017 and 2018, and two months is not long enough to establish a firm trend. But bone-in imports have been rising since September last year, and import statistics for February show that warning lights should be flashing.
Offal imports, another area of competition with domestic producers, have soared to record levels in recent years. Offal products include chicken heads, feet, gizzards and livers.
Offal volumes have increased substantially over the past five years, doubling from 43 000 tonnes in 2017 to 86 000 tonnes in 2023. They rose further to new record highs of 95 000 tonnes in 2024 and 103 000 tonnes in 2025.
Brazil, the United States and Argentina have all increased their supplies of bone-in portions significantly this year compared to 2025.
Anti-dumping duties, the Covid-19 pandemic and widespread outbreaks of bird flu in Europe and North America combined to give local farmers some respite from the relentless onslaught they endured up to 2018. Bone-in imports peaked then at 287 000 tonnes. They were down to 40 000 tonnes in 2024, but the downturn reversed with a rise to 50 000 tonnes last year.
This increase has continued in 2026. Bone-in imports in January were up by 82% on the previous year, and in February they were up by 183% on an annual basis.
The months ahead will show whether a new onslaught of chicken imports is building up. Supplies from Brazil have increased significantly, the US is raising volumes despite continued bird flu outbreaks across the country, and Argentina weighed in before it was hit by a bird flu ban at the end of February.
Imports from the European Union so far have been zero this year, again because of multiple outbreaks of bird flu in EU countries. However, the northern hemisphere winter months of peak bird flu activity are over, and as warmer weather spreads across Europe, bird flu incidents will abate. Two EU countries are already seeking to have South African bird flu bans lifted, and others will follow.
Brazil, the United States and seven European countries are subject to South African anti-dumping duties. The question for the poultry industry in 2026 is whether this will be enough to protect local producers from rising volumes of dumped chicken imports.
