A surge in European broiler meat exports is to go into reverse this year, thanks to tightened Russian import quotas, a turnaround which will - notably in the UK - help put an end to a period of strong growth in poultry production.

Broiler shipments from the European Union, the third-ranked exporter after Brazil and the US, will drop by more than 5% in 2011 to 940,000 tonnes, US Department of Agriculture staff said.

The expected decline would be the first for five years, and come in sharp contrast to the 7.3% jump in shipments to a "buoyant", and record, 992,000 tonnes in 2010.

However, prospects for shipments to Russia, a major importer, appear significantly worse than last year, when the country sought extra EU supplies to replace US ones banned over a dispute over sanitary treatment of meat.

Russia has tightened the imports that it will permit, under tariff-rate quotas, to 350,000 tonnes.

Less protein 

Nor will European producers be able to replace demand on the domestic market, with consumers' taste for chicken slowing in the region, despite the meat's relative cheapness compared with beef, lamb or pork.

"Several market analyses showed that, while the average consumer switched from beef or pork meat to poultry meat, the lower income consumers simply reduced their protein purchases."

Furthermore, a trend of consumers switching to cheaper cuts from more expensive parts was expected to continue this year.

Country forecasts 

The market pressure will feed through into a rise of a little under 1%, to 9.19m tonnes, in EU poultry meat production in 2011, following a four-year spell when output has grown by an average of more than 4%.