MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Saudi Arabia limits imports from a number of Brazilian chicken processing plants

Some 58 Brazilian plants are currently authorized to export to Saudi Arabia, ABPA said, but only 30 of those are effectively shipping products to the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has barred five Brazilian chicken processing plants from exporting to the Middle Eastern country, leaving 25 with valid export permits, Brazil’s meat trade association ABPA said, citing “technical” reasons. The Saudi move threw up a fresh hurdle for top exporter BRF SA and its rivals just a day after an anti-dumping dispute with China was resolved.

Some 58 Brazilian plants are currently authorized to export to Saudi Arabia, ABPA said. In a revised follow-up statement, the trade groups said only 30 of those are effectively shipping products to the kingdom.

According to Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, the 25 plants that remain authorized to export to Saudi Arabia accounted for 63% of Brazil’s chicken exports to that country last year.

The list of authorized exporters, which was revised after a Saudi trade mission in Brazil last October, includes units operated by listed food processors JBS SA and BRF SA, the ministry said.

ABPA did not discuss the plants missing from the downsized list, blaming “technical” reasons for the Saudi move to reduce the number of export permits.

“Corrective action is being taken to restore the authorizations,” ABPA said in its initial statement, without elaborating.

Folha de S. Paulo earlier reported the Saudi move could be linked to the Brazilian government’s intention to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But ABPA said that Saudi Arabia’s decision was “not related to any diplomatic matters”. JBS referred comments to the trade association.

Saudi Arabia in 2018 was Brazil’s top buyer of fresh and processed chicken products, an ABPA spokesman said. ABPA data shows the Saudis imported 433,500 tons of chicken products from Brazil, or about 11.8% of all such sales from Brazilian purveyors.

China was a close second, importing around 400,900 tons of fresh chicken and byproducts, corresponding to 10.9% of total sales, according to the trade group’s data. China’s Ministry of Commerce on Monday accepted an offer made by Brazilian chicken exporters to end a dumping investigation.