You're reading: Ukraine’s poultry export revenues up 30 percent in 2018

The total value of Ukraine’s poultry exports jumped by 30 percent last year, from $390 million in 2017 to $507 million in 2018, according to data from the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine.

The service’s data shows that Ukraine exported about 329,000 tons of poultry meat and poultry by-product meal last year, an increase of 21 percent from the previous year. Key importers included the Netherlands, which imported $112 million worth of Ukrainian poultry; Slovakia, with $60 million; and Saudi Arabia, with $58 million, according to agricultural consulting firm UkrAgroConsult.

“Ukrainian producers are competitive in the markets of European countries and can successfully export their products in accordance with the highest standards of safety and quality,” deputy minister for agricultural policy Olga Trofimtseva said, while discussing Ukraine’s overall growing role in supplying produce to the EU.

Most of Ukraine’s poultry exports to the EU come from the agricultural giant Myronivsky Hliboproduct, or MHP. The EU market accounts for about 30 percent of MHP’s poultry exports. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the company increased chicken meat sales by 62 percent compared to the same period of 2017.

Ukrainian poultry producers are also becoming competitive in Saudi Arabia, which recently shifted its imports away from Brazil and towards Ukraine. According to a report by Reuters, five companies that previously exported to Saudi Arabia lost their permits to do so for unclear reasons.

According to UkrAgroExport, Ukraine recently overtook rivals Russia and Canada to become the top sixth exporter of chicken meat globally. World export research aggregator WorldsTopExporters ranked Ukraine as the 8th biggest global exporter of frozen chicken in 2017.

The growth in poultry exports was driven largely by growing demand in Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Iraq and the Netherlands, according to analysts.