Thailand's Broiler Industry Recovering

WASHINGTON - Sep 16/05 - SNS -- Thailand's poultry industry is continuing to recover and adapt after Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) ravaged the industry in 2004, reports the U.S. agricultural attache for the country.

Thailand's broiler meat production in 2006 should continue to grow by 15-20% over the 2005 level, advancing from an estimated 950,000 metric tons (MT) to a forecast 1.12 million due to the availability of unused production capacity among poultry processors and anticipated continued growth in domestic consumption and exports of cooked poultry.

HPAI, which first hit Thailand in November 2003 and reoccurred in mid 2004, severely affected the Thai broiler industry in 2004. The public, both domestically and internationally, questioned the Royal Thai Government (RTG)'s transparency over the handling of the HPAI outbreak. At the same time, both exports and domestic consumption of chicken meat in 2004 dropped sharply.

"Although several animal health experts agree that the disease may have already become endemic to Thailand," the U.S. agricultural attache said, "trade sources believe that the incidences in bird flocks should decline for years to come due to heavy depopulation measures, increased efficient biosafety control among integrated poultry processors, and application of illegal vaccines in the flocks of layer chicken and fighting cocks."