US chicken exports rise - bird flu - US #1 poultry exporter, mass asian poultry cull

Agriculture online ^

[Logical Extinction]

US chicken exports rise as Asian bird flu spreads

(Reuters)

By K.T. Arasu

U.S. chicken exports to Asia have begun rising to fill a supply gap as a bird flu virus strikes down millions of chickens from Pakistan to Japan, industry sources said on Monday.

The chicken sales come at a time when the $3.2 billion U.S. beef export sector remains locked down after top importers like Japan banned beef from the United States, following the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, disclosed on Dec. 23.

Thailand, the world's fourth-largest poultry exporter, has been hit hard by the virus, as have Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia. Seven people have died, sparking fears reminiscent of the SARS virus which emerged in China in 2002, spread to more than 30 nations and killed 800 people.

"It's possible we could see some benefit. There's an opportunity to fill the supply from Thailand," said Ray Atkinson, spokesman for Pittsburg, Texas-based Pilgrim's Pride Corp. , the the No. 2 U.S. poultry and chicken producer.

The United States is the world's top chicken exporter.

Pilgrim's Pride on Monday said first-quarter net earnings more than tripled on increased exports and as strong U.S. demand drove prices higher.

Tyson Foods Inc. , the No. 1 U.S. meat company, was already reaping some benefits from the bird flu virus, whose rapid spread through Asia was described by the World Health Organization as "historically unprecedented."

"We are seeing and do expect to see some positive benefit as a result of disruptions in some of the Asian production," said Tyson's chief administrative officer, Greg Lee.

"So there will be some incremental demand and we believe that will be positive to both volume and price," he added.

The 15-nation European Union bloc banned imports of fresh and frozen poultry from Thailand, and said Thai poultry imports will be off its supermarket shelves for at least five months.

Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council, said the disease has caused "turmoil in international market trends" and sent countries scrambling for possible suppliers."

"This is going to have an unbelievable impact on the poultry trade," he added.

"The U.S. will benefit to some degree," he said, adding that poultry prices were also rising. "It is driving up the price in various markets," he said, adding that it could take several months before the bird flu is brought under control.

In an anecdotal account of the increased demand, Sumner said a private U.S. company had hired extra workers to debone chicken legs for export to Japan. He said Thailand is a large supplier of deboned chicken products to Japan and others.

Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, said the United States, estimated to export $2 billion worth of poultry and eggs last year, stands to gain from the bird flu.

"It's certainly possible that we might see some growth in export business to some Asian countries as a result," he added.

The top export markets for U.S. chicken are Russia, Mexico, Hong Kong, China and Canada. Lobb said that based on data for January through October 2002, Hong Kong was the biggest market in Asia for U.S. chicken, followed by China and South Korea. (Additional reporting by Nichola Groom)

[Logical Extinction]

I know quite a bit about viruses but very little about the stock market. However there is a person in my lab who has been touting American poultry exporting companies, as a short term stock opportunity, with an evangelical fervor today.

I do not know if this is a wise purchase or not but I throw the proposition out for my fellow freepers to mull over.

I will try to post what I know about the H5N1 outbreak and ping others who can help us understand the market aspects of this situation.

I am concerned that by the time schmoes like me get the word - it's way too late.

Anyway for what it is worth here it is....

[xrp]

great...now chicken prices are going to go up

Well, at least that is good for US chicken farmers

[Logical Extinction]

Cluck

[billorites]

"great...now chicken prices are going to go up

Well, at least that is good for US chicken farmers"

"Oh, my goodness yes!"

[Logical Extinction]

Cluck

[Logical Extinction]

Cluck

[Logical Extinction]

Cluck

[sistergoldenhair]

I will try to post what I know about the H5N1 outbreak

This is an influenza (virus) not a "parrot fever", right??

[Logical Extinction]

BANGKOK, Jan 29 (Reuters) -

China denied on Thursday a report by Britain's New Scientist that the avian flu, which has swept through 10 Asian countries and killed eight people, began in the world's most populous nation, probably in the first half of 2003. "It is purely a guess, a groundless guess," China Vice Agriculture Minister Qi Jingfa told reporters in Bangkok. "We have had very strict surveillance."

The New Scientist said on Wednesday an "official cover-up and questionable farming practices" allowed Asia's outbreak of bird flu to turn into an epidemic.

"A combination of official cover-up and questionable farming practices allowed it to turn into the epidemic now under way," the weekly magazine said.

A decision by China's poultry producers to vaccinate birds after an outbreak in Hong Kong in 1997 may have been a mistake and could have contributed to the problem, it said.

Hong Kong conducted a mass slaughter of chickens when the H5N1 bird flu killed six people. To protect its poultry, Chinese producers used an inactivated H5N1 virus after the outbreak.

"If the vaccine is not a good match for the virus -- as is the case with the H5N1 strain now sweeping Asia -- it can still replicate, but most animals do not show signs of the disease," the magazine said.

The Chinese vice agriculture minister was in Bangkok to attend a conference on the birdflu crisis that pledged a joint fight against a virus which poses a serious threat to economies and public

[blam]

"Cluck"

LOL. My background is in chip-making...you don't want my advise on virus, chickens or the stock market.

[Logical Extinction]

Parrot fever (psittacosis) is nn infectious disease of parrots and related birds caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci.

It is communicable to humans


H5N1 - is a virus that is spread in fowl, and in rare cases to humans.

Human infection is from contact with the birds or their droppings.

Our concern with H5N1 is that it might infect a person with a human flu virus allowing the two strains to mix.

[Travis McGee]

By the time Joe Sixpack (us) hears a "hot tip," it's last week's chicken casserole.

[Logical Extinction]

Ministers and officials "pledged to do more" to combat the spread of the disease which has erupted in 10 Asian nations and triggered a mass cull of some 20 million chickens and other poultry.

The deepening crisis sent shockwaves around the region's stock markets, with losses on bourses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and Mumbai blamed on fears the outbreak could spin out of control and harm Asian economies.

China said today it was battling three separate outbreaks of bird flu hundreds of kilometres apart, sparking fears the virus has already spread across the country.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Logical Extinction]

Yes,

That is what I thought too.

However, this is a new outbreak and in the past 48 hours it seems to be spreading exponentially.

Possibly by migratory water fowl.

The impact could be enormous, but I just lack the nerves to buy stock on such a whimsy.

[wardaddy]

yep...buy rumour ..sell fact as they say.

[Logical Extinction]

Well it might be fun to watch over the next few days...

This is one of the American companies cited in the story.

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[Pro-Bush]

I better pick up a few chickens from Raley's, they're still half price, like .59 cents a pound!

[farmfriend]

Bought a couple of packages of boneless breasts at Bel Air today myself.