Official import statistics for January and February shed little light on whether the rebates have raised import volumes.
The rebates are available for imports of bone-in and boneless chicken portions, for carcasses and for offal, which includes chicken livers and feet.
Import volumes increased for all of those categories in January, even though the rebates were only introduced at the end of that month. Producers suspected that the surge may have been due to the release of consignments that could not get cleared in the December congestion.
Then, in February, those increases were negated as imports of all categories dropped, with the marginal exception of bone-in portions, which rose by 2.1%.
There is no obvious reason why the pendulum swung so sharply the other way when rebates were in effect for both months.
Perhaps importers chose to apply their rebate allocation to bone-in portions, which could be why that category increased slightly. Perhaps there was more harbour congestion.
Or perhaps the more rigorous inspection of chicken import containers, about which importers have complained loudly, caused delays which contributed to lower volumes.
The net result does not favour a continuation of the rebates for another three months, from April to June. Producers are proclaiming a market surplus and, with local production back to normal, there is no justification for rebates. They should fall away.
