Brazil’s chicken meat exports fell in May 2025, reaching the lowest monthly value since August 2024, reflecting the avian influenza crisis.
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAPA) confirmed on Thursday, May 15, the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial poultry breeding facility located in the municipality of Montenegro, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul.
This is the first confirmed case of HPAI in a commercial poultry operation in Brazil. Since 2006, the virus has circulated mainly in Asia, Africa, and Northern Europe.
In line with the National Contingency Plan for Avian Influenza, containment and eradication measures have already been implemented. These efforts are aimed at eliminating the outbreak, safeguarding the productivity of Brazil’s poultry sector, and ensuring the continued supply of safe, high-quality food to the population.
Sales of Brazilian chicken meat to the international market totaled 363,100 tons in May 2025, 17.6% lower than the previous month (440,700 tons) and the lowest level since August 2024 (first Figure).
The Figure shows Brazil’s monthly chicken meat export, in thousand tons, between January 2020 and May 2025, according to COMEX data.
Brazil’s chicken meat exports in May 2025, at 363.1 thousand tons, were 17.6% lower than the previous month and the lowest monthly value since August 2024.
The drop in Brazil’s chicken meat shipments was reflected in the sharp fall in the wholesale price of frozen chicken in São Paulo, which has fallen by more than 15.0% since the avian influenza case was announced in the country.
The second Figure illustrates the impact of the drop in exports from Brazil’s main chicken meat importing country, China. And, of course, remembering that the monthly data only reflects part of the drop in sales, since the suspension of shipments began in the second half of May.
The Figure shows the monthly data for Brazil’s chicken meat exports to China, in thousand tons, between January 2020 and May 2025, according to COMEX data.
It’s worth remembering that in the partial year 2025, until May, Brazil’s chicken meat exports had reached an all-time high. This is because between January and May, sales of chicken meat totaled 2.10 million tons, 3,2% above the previous record for the period (2,02 million tons in 2023).
The fall in brazil’s chicken meat exports was reflected in the fall in the price of the product on the brazilian domestic market. The wholesale price of frozen chicken has fallen by more than 15.0% since the announcement of the avian influenza case in Brazil.
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