China turns net exporter of chicken, pricing about USD 1,000 a tonne below Brazilian and Thai supply

China is now a net exporter of chicken, and its product is being quoted about USD 1,000 a tonne below Brazilian and Thai supply — a price gap Gulf and African buyers are already acting on.

China moved from net importer to net exporter of chicken meat in 2025, and net exports kept growing through the first three quarters of 2026, China News Service reported on 3 November 2026. Customs data cited by Reuters put China's chicken product exports at USD 2.6 billion last year, almost double the 2020 level.

The driver is price. The general manager of Shandong processor Wintop Food told Reuters that Chinese chicken is around USD 1,000 per tonne cheaper than Brazilian and Thai supply, and that buyers from Ghana, Iraq, Jordan, Russia and Senegal had all visited in recent weeks. The company slaughters 60 million birds a year and sells into more than 20 countries.

• The surplus is structural, not seasonal: poultry output rose about 7 percent last year while domestic demand stayed tepid, so export volumes are backed by capacity rather than a one-off harvest.
• New corridors are opening: Gansu shipped frozen cut chicken to Azerbaijan for the first time in 2025, and Shanxi sent its first frozen chicken consignment to Uzbekistan in 2026.
• Breeding is increasingly domestic: three Chinese white-feather broiler breeds have been approved, cutting dependence on imported grandparent stock and supporting cost control.
• Trade politics is the risk to watch: the European Commission opened an anti-dumping probe into Chinese Pekin duck in July 2026 and has imposed duties of 41–67 percent on Chinese pea protein. Chicken has so far avoided action but is being monitored, a commission spokesperson told Reuters.

For buyers in the Gulf and Africa the constraint is no longer availability but documentation and cold chain. We ship halal frozen poultry from GACC-registered plants (0900 / 03003) with halal (GSO/GAC) and HACCP certification, health and certificate-of-origin documents issued per consignment, and we can arrange clearance into Dubai — including DDP Jebel Ali — on request. For a landed price against your specification, write to info@naufoodgroup.com.

Source: Reuters, 15 October 2026 ("This Chinese export boom really has legs – and wings"); China News Service, 3 November 2026.