French poultry sector on upswing

The end of 2006 was a great improvement over 2005. Year-end festivities went well for all parts of the poultry chain. This is a key time for the poultry industry. Traders reported hardly any bottlenecks this year, and all products sold without much difficulty. There were similar reports from both upstream and retail sectors, which saw good demand levels and no excess of supply.

There was a similar trend for foie gras from EU geese. This was sold at an average of €31-32/kg in 2006, compared with €27-31/kg in 2004.
In the first week of January 2007, wholesalers sold ready to cook standard and quality labelled chickens for €0.45 and €1.00 more, respectively, than two years earlier.

However, the price of poultry feed continues to rise, due to the surge in cereal prices. Estimates of the cost of raw materials by the poultry industry’s technical institute, Itavi, confirm that prices remain on an upward trend, although it will weaken a little. Average price rises of 1.2%, 1.7% and 1.3% are reported, respectively, for standard chicken, quality label chicken and turkey feed.