The country’s dressed-chicken inventory in February reached 13,828.60 metric tons (MT), nearly 23 percent lower than the 17,947.69 MT recorded a year ago, according to the latest data from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).
NMIS data showed chicken purchased abroad accounted for 65.88 percent of the February inventory at 9,110.00 MT. The figure was 38.35 percent lower than the 14,777.13 MT imported a year ago.
The remaining volume consisted of locally produced chicken, according to NMIS data. The volume of locally produced chicken in cold storages expanded by 48.83 percent to 4,718.61 MT, from the 3,170.56 MT posted in February 2016.
On a monthly basis, local-chicken inventory as of February 27 was 16.01 percent lower than the 16,465.49 MT recorded in January.
The NMIS said it surveyed only accredited cold-storage facilities. Fresh-chilled chicken, mechanically deboned meat was not included in the NMIS data.
Data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture also showed the volume of frozen pork in cold storages expanded 9.27 percent to 14,277.16 MT, from 13,066.12 MT recorded in the same period last year.
Imports also accounted for the bulk of the frozen-pork inventory. According to the NMIS, pork imports abroad reached 13,225.87 MT, or 92.64 percent of the total February inventory.
The volume of frozen-pork imports is 27.49 percent higher than the 10,374.20 MT recorded a year ago.
Local pork in cold storages declined by 60.95 percent to 1,051.29 MT, from 2,691.92 MT recorded in February 2016.
On a monthly basis, local-pork inventory as of February 27 was 3.34 percent higher than the 13,815.59 MT recorded in January.
For the frozen-pork data, the NMIS said it included stock inventory in accredited commercial and in-house cold storage in slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants.
Local traders are allowed to import chicken and pork under the so-called minimum access volume (MAV) scheme of the World Trade Organization. Pork imports within MAV are usually slapped a lower tariff.
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