As chicken import volumes dropped in recent years, the origin of those imports has changed, and so has the composition of the chicken products being imported.
In the years leading up to 2018, it was all about bone-in portions because those were the imports doing most damage to the local poultry industry. In 2018 imports of bone-in portions peaked at 287 000 tonnes, mostly from the EU, at a landed value of R3.85 billion.
By 2023 the total was down to 71 000 tonnes worth R1.2 billion. Brazil is now the main supplier of bone-in portions (34%), followed by the US (previously dominant but down to 31%). EU supplies, once exceeding 60%, collapsed but have crept back up to 12%.
In July this year, bone-in imports comprised only 7% of South Africa’s chicken imports, while offal (chicken livers, heads, feet, etc) had risen to 25%. Offal imports doubled from 43 000 tonnes in 2017 to 86 000 tonnes in 2023 – exceeding the volume of bone-in imports – and have kept on rising this year.
The South African poultry industry has become increasingly unhappy at the rise in offal import volumes, which put pressure on local sales. There is also a concern that high-tariff consignments of bone-in portions might have been mislabelled as offal, which attracts lower import duties.
Also increasing, though at much lower volumes, are imports of frozen chicken carcasses (up 76% to July) and boneless cuts (up 155%).
Along with offal and bone-in portions, carcasses and boneless portions were included in the import rebates granted in the first three months of this year. The government tried to encourage imports because it mistakenly believed there was a chicken shortage on the local market. The local industry has pointed out that there was and is no shortage, and the rebates have not been renewed.
