The 2014 broiler imports forecast for China was reduced by USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to 235,000 metric tons, a 13-percent decrease from the department’s official figure of 270,000 tons, according to a USDA Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) report from Beijing. This reduction is attributed to continued weak demand caused by ongoing public health and food safety concerns from the H7N9 virus detections, the report said.

Brazil, China’s largest broiler meat supplier, was granted market access for additional broiler meat plants in 2013. China’s second largest supplier, the United States, increased its U.S. 2013 export market share based on competitive broiler meat export prices compared with other major suppliers.

In 2012, China imported a total of 254,000 tons of broiler meat with 53,000 tons from the United States (21 percent import market share) and, in 2013 China imported 244,000 tons of broiler meat with 91,000 tons from the United States (37 percent import market share), according to the report. Of the 235,000 tons now expected to be imported this year, FAS sees 95,000 tons coming from the United States (40 percent import market share).

The FAS report updated the anti-dumping and countervailing duties measures against U.S. broiler meat products, noting that on December 25, 2013, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced its reinvestigation of China’s anti-dumping and countervailing measures against U.S. broiler meat products, based on the World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on the case. In September 2009, MOFCOM started an anti-dumping and countervailing investigation and prosecution procedure on U.S. broiler meat products. A year later, MOFCOM determined that China’s broiler meat industry was harmed by the dumping and subsidies provided for U.S. broiler meat products exported to China. In August 2010, MOFCOM enforced an anti-dumping tariff at 50.3-105.4 percent and, in September 2010, a countervailing tariff at 4-30 percent. Both enforcements were effective immediately and provided for a duration of five years.

In November 2011, the United States appealed this case to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Board (DSB). The DSB expert group distributed its report to various WTO membership countries in August 2013, which concluded that China’s measures violated the WTO rules in cost allocation of the dumped imports and analysis of price impact of industry injury. In September 2013, this report was passed through the WTO dispute settlement mechanism.  During that process, MOFCOM expressed that the Chinese side would evaluate the case, according to the WTO dispute settlement procedure.

Regarding broiler consumption, FAS forecasts China’s 2014 consumption at 12.7 million tons, a decrease of six percent from USDA’s official estimate of 13.5 million tons. China’s 2014 per capita broiler meat consumption is slightly above 9 kilograms (19.8 pounds), a slight decline from nearly 10 kilograms (22.0 pounds) in 2013.

The complete report is available here.