Brazilian companies accounted for 74 percent of China’s poultry imports in 2011, said the secretary of International Relation from the Brazilian Ministry for Agriculture, Farming and Supply.

According to the ministry’s press office, the secretary said that 2012 figures, which had yet to be published, were expected to show that Brazilian companies had increased their market share for that product.

Célio Porto noted that poultry trade with China was interesting because it allowed producers to sell parts of the birds that were not often eaten in Brazil, such as wings and feet, whilst in Brazil the “best cuts are the breast, thigh and drumstick.”

In March 2012 there were 24 refrigeration units authorised to export frozen poultry to China, and that figure has since increased to 29 following the approval of five new units, one in Sao Paulo, one in Mato Grosso do Sul and three in Santa Catarina. (macauhub)