Poultry imports into Ghana hit 154,000 metric tons end of 2012

Poultry imports into Ghana from the US, Brazil and the European Union reached 154,503 metric tons end of 2012, new figures obtained by ghanabusinessnews.com has shown.

The EU exported 66,993 metric tons of poultry into Ghana, the US was 52,168 metric tons and Brazil exports were estimated at 35,342 metric tons, according to an email response by an official of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council (USAPEEC).

The figures were put together by USAPEEC’s economists.

The volume of poultry products imported into Ghana from the US was earlier projected to fall by 7,000 metric tons to 36,400 metric tons in 2012, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Ghana imported 43,400 metric tons of US poultry at the end of 2011 – a rise from 30,000 metric tons in 2010.

For the EU, the USDA projected that its exports of chicken to Ghana will jump to 68,500 metric tons as against the real metric ton figure of 66,993. The USDA data indicated that Ghana imported 63,600 metric tons of poultry from the EU in 2011, up from 44,000 in 2010.

Brazil, one of the world’s largest producers of poultry, imported about 42,200 metric tons of the products in 2011 and it was expected to slump to 38,400 metric tons at the end of 2012.

By Ekow Quandzie