Industry Trends
The Turkiye-Ukraine free trade agreement entered into force on 1 October 2026, with duty preferences for Ukrainian exports applying immediately and a 2,000-tonne zero-duty quota covering raw and processed poultry.
Canada confirmed HPAI in six commercial poultry premises in Manitoba in September 2026 — its first since December 2025 — while USDA APHIS reported new detections in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Idaho. Zone-based trade restrictions, not blanket bans, are the pattern importers should plan for.
Tanmiah Food Company and Tradewinds (M) Berhad signed a Memorandum of Understanding at MIHAS 2026 covering Saudi chicken exports to Malaysia, a possible joint further-processing plant, and investment in farms, hatcheries and processing. Malaysia is being positioned as a hub for halal protein into Asia-Pacific.
The European Commission published the final report of its DG SANTE audit on 28 September 2026 and found Brazil's control system adequate for broiler poultry meat and honey, but Brazil is still not back in Annex XVIa: consignments certified on or after 3 September 2026 remain barred from the EU until member states vote, with SCoPAFF scheduled for 20-21 October and 16-17 November 2026.
Ukraine exported 330,200 tonnes of poultry meat in January-August 2026, up 12.5% year on year, with edible offal taking the total to 332,400 tonnes. Volumes are going to Europe while average export prices fell to USD 2.02 per kg in August, 20.9% below a year earlier; the UAE is the fourth-largest buyer with 6.4% of shipments.
Hong Kong has suspended poultry imports from four US counties and Singapore has restricted product from four municipalities in Manitoba after H5N1 notifications. County-level bans mean plant location and slaughter dates on the health certificate now decide whether a consignment clears.
Amiri Decree No. 45 of 2026 raises Qatar's customs tariff on whole fresh or chilled chicken and chilled cuts to 18% about 60 days after its 16 September 2026 publication. Frozen chicken is not among the listed products, and GCC plus 12 preferential-agreement origins are exempt.
Indonesia will not extend its 18 October 2026 mandatory halal deadline: imported food and beverage products, their ingredients and slaughtering services must be halal certified before distribution. USDA's Jakarta post reports new rules on slaughter practice, labelling, halal supervisors and pre-shipment verification.
USDA's Brasilia post forecasts Brazilian chicken meat production up 2% to a record 16.3 million tonnes in 2027 and exports up 4% to 5.5 million tonnes, with halal markets at the centre of the strategy and the EU market closed since 3 September 2026. Member-state votes on re-listing Brazil could come in October or November.
USDA's Pretoria post forecasts South African chicken meat production rising 3% to 1.73 million tonnes in 2027 while imports fall 4% to 280,000 tonnes, as anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in chicken from Germany, the Netherlands and the UK go through a sunset review with proposed rates of up to 425.64%.
Maersk is still holding reefer bookings back from most Gulf ports and charging up to USD 3,800 per reefer container in emergency freight plus USD 1,000 for a Hormuz transit, while Hapag-Lloyd applies USD 2,200-4,400 per reefer on its Jeddah-Aden feeder and RCL adds USD 585 per reefer on Asia-Red Sea.
China shipped 144,500 tonnes of chicken meat in August 2026, up 49.6% year on year and the highest monthly volume on record, with January-August exports at 970,600 tonnes (+51.1%). Value-added cuts such as bone-in frozen chicken pieces are growing fastest.
