A case of bird flu confirmed last week in the heart of America’s poultry region, is certain to mean more export restrictions, increasing U.S. supply and forcing the world’s biggest poultry companies to trim prices.
The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council said it expects 30 to 40 additional countries to impose new trade restrictions on U.S. poultry and egg imports in the $5.7 billion export market. Additional limits could come from Mexico, the biggest U.S. chicken importer, which already is blocking poultry imports from Minnesota, Missouri and California due to bird flu, the trade group said.
Previous cases of avian flu in other states caused China and South Korea to recently impose bans, still in effect, on U.S. poultry imports. Last year, they accounted for about $428.5 million in export sales of poultry meat and products, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
Other countries have only banned exports from states or counties with positive cases of avian flu