Mild recession in the poultry sector

There have not been many positive developments in recent years for the poultry sector. According to data from the Poultry Product Council, 427,000 tonnes of poultry was sold to industry in 2006, whereas this quantity had been 606,000 tonnes in 2004. As Dr. László Takács, managing director of the Product Council has told us, the whole sector is in mild recession. Import still accounts for a large part of domestic consumption, with over 40,000 tons. Not only frozen poultry, but fresh products are also imported from neighbouring countries. The transformation of the domestic poultry industry continues. Some companies are under liquidation, but the largest part of the sector is operating. Accession to the EU has not improved the position of the sector in itself. Opening of the market has turned out to be more favourable to foreign competitors. The need to comply with EU regulations means extra costs for processing enterprises and breeders, which are not compensated for by the government nor can customers be made to pay for these. As a result of the bird flu scare and rising fodder prices, the position of the sector has deteriorated significantly. However, the advertising campaign by the Poultry Product Council has been quite successful in restoring consumer confidence. Poultry continues to be more popular than other types of meat in Hungary. According to KSH data, poultry and poultry products accounted for 33-34 kilos of the per capita consumption of meat which was 58 kilos in 2006. Consumption is expected to be less this year, because production of the sector is 9 per cent lower. The future of the waterfowl sector is surrounded by the greatest degree of uncertainty, because this is where the bird flu scare had the greatest effect.