Changing patterns of poultry production in the European Union

Transcription

1 Chapter 2 Changing patterns of poultry production in the European Union H-W. Windhorst Abstract The EU (27) is one of the leading global regions in egg and poultry meat production. Production is, however, not evenly distributed but shows clusters with a high contribution to the overall production volume and regions with a low share. The organisation of poultry production varies from small farms which produce for local markets to vertically integrated agribusiness companies which supply national and even international markets. After three decades of growth, the number of produced broilers, tur-keys, ducks, and geese decreased between 2000 and 2006 due to the impacts of Avian Influenza out-breaks in some countries and an oversupply on the turkey meat market. A close correlation between the population of a member state and its poultry flocks as well as its egg and poultry meat production can be observed with the exception of the. In spite of a comparatively low population they rank in top positions with regard to production and exports. The consolidation in the poultry industry initiated a regional concentration process. Densely populated poultry areas with a high competitive-ness but also with a high risk regarding the introduction and dissemination of highly infectious dis-eases are the result in several EU member states. 1. Introduction and setting The EU (27) is one of the leading global poultry production regions. In 2006, EU member states con-tributed 66 % to European egg production and 81 % poultry meat production. Their share of the global production volume of hen eggs was 16.4 % and of poultry meat 12.5 %. The organisation of poultry production shows a broad variety from small farms that produce for their own consumption or local markets to large vertically integrated companies that supply national and even international markets. In several of the EU member countries the consolidation of egg and poultry meat production has led to regional production clusters with extremely high densities of animals. Whereas this has on the one hand side contributed to the competitiveness of the regions, the risk of an introduction and dissemina-tion of highly infectious poultry diseases has increased on the other side parallel to the regional con-centration process. High economic losses which resulted from the Avian Influenza outbreak in, the, the United Kingdom and several East European countries made the risk obvious. The main objectives of this chapter are: to give an overview about the development of the number of producing and produced animals between 1980 and 2006; to present the regional patterns of laying hen and poultry meat producing species on a country base; to analyse the development of hen egg and poultry meat production between 1980 and 2006; and to identify the leading countries in hen egg and poultry meat production. 1

2 To make the data comparable, only the FAO database was used for this overview. In other papers of this report, other datasets will be used. This may result in differences in the used data for species and regions. 2. Development and spatial patterns of producing and produced animals In a first step, this analysis will deal with the development of the number of producing laying hens and of produced meat animals. The data in table 1 shows that the number of animals increased from about 5 billion in 1980 to 6.4 billion in 2006 or by 28.7 %. A closer look reveals, however, that between 2000 and 2006 their number decreased by about 400 million. Whereas the layer flocks recovered from the downward trend, the number of produced broilers, turkeys and ducks decreased in this time period. This is the result of Avian Influenza outbreaks in, the, and the United Kingdom. From 2001 on, turkey meat production in the EU (25) decreased from 2.2 million to less than 1.9 mil-lion t. This is mainly due to the drastic reduction in (- 170,000 t) and (- 93,000 t). During the BSE crisis, turkey production had been expanded in the leading countries because of the growing demand. When, however, In a first step, this analysis will deal with the development of the number of producing laying hens and of produced poultry meat animals. The data in table 1 shows that the num-ber of animals increased from about 5 billion in 1980 to 6.4 billion in 2006 or by 28.7 %. A closer look reveals, however, that between 2000 and 2006 their number decreased by about 400 million. Whereas the layer flocks recovered from the downward trend, the number of produced broilers, tur-keys and ducks decreased between 2000 and This is the result of Avian Influenza outbreaks in, the, and the United Kingdom. From 2001 on, turkey meat production in the EU (25) decreased from 2.2 mill. t to less than 1.9 mill. t. This is mainly due to the drastic reduction in (- 170,000 t) and consumers turned back to beef, the oversupply in the poultry meat market led low prices which forced the turkey industry to reduce the production volume. It was not before the first quarter of 2008 that the industry could realise profits again. Table 1. Development of producing and produced animals in the EU (27) between 1980 and 2006; data in million animals (Source: FAO database). Species Change Layers Broilers* Turkeys* Ducks* Geese*/** 4, , , , Total 5,004 5,471 6,826 6, * produced animals per year; ** includes guinea fowl. A closer look at the spatial pattern in 2006 (table 2, figure 1) shows that the United Kingdom and are in a leading position, followed by, Spain, and. A close correlation between the population and egg respectively poultry meat production is obvious. One has to consider that the number of producing animals refers to layers at hand and to the number of produced animals per year. Seven growing periods are not unusual in broiler production, even though they may not be reached in all countries. This would mean that about 9 mill. broilers were at hand in the EU member countries in Goose and duck meat are very often not produced 2

3 continuously. Here, the flocks can differ considerably between the first and second half of a year, resulting from the fact that more duck and goose meat is consumed in the fall and winter months. Hen egg production in the EU (27) has remained fairly stable between 1980 and Only in 1990, the production volume decreased for some years because of the economic adaption process in Eastern Europe. Most of the new EU member countries have been able in the meantime to stabilise egg production, this is not the case, however, in and the Czech Republic. In these two countries, the layer population is still decreasing. On the other hand, the Baltic countries, with the exception of Estonia, show high absolute and relative growth rates. Table 2. Producing and produced animals in the EU (27) in 2006; data in 1,000 birds (Source: FAO database). Layers Broilers* Turkeys* Ducks* Geese*/** Total Un. Kingdom 40, ,028 23,000 18, ,688 51, ,629 72,748 74, ,569 50, ,000 43,000 21, ,385 Spain 51, ,201 3, ,843 51, ,000 5,800 7,500 2, ,453 30, ,000 10,000 7, ,000 46, ,190 26,797-8, ,760 Belgium 13, ,000 1, ,415 Romania 51, , ,546 Czech Rep. 11, ,300 4,300 4, ,980 15, ,046 10,590 15,665 6, ,382 Portugal 5, ,206 11, ,756 Greece 15, , ,095 Denmark 3, , , ,568 Ireland 3,600 90,000 4,800 1, ,920 Sweden 4,500 69, ,750 Austria 5,450 62,369 1, ,924 Slovakia 5,647 56, ,055 Bulgaria 7,364 46, , ,936 Finland 2,600 55, ,971 Slovenia 1,400 46,000 1, ,000 Lithuania 4,219 37,486 4, ,643 Latvia 1,946 13, ,217 Cyprus 1,500 13, ,356 Estonia 720 8, ,931 Malta 472 2, ,173 Luxembourg EU (27) 476,706 5,537, , ,362 20,734 6,419,455 Europe 744,914 7,722, , ,756 21,214 8,872,136 World 5,628,699 48,789, ,768 2,639, ,664 58,324,539 EU (27) in % of Europe EU (27) in % of world * produced animals per year; ** includes guinea fowl. 3

4 Table 3. Development of hen egg production in the EU between 1980 and 2006; data in 1,000 t (Source: FAO database) Change Hen eggs 6,430 6,286 6,617 6, A closer look at the spatial pattern of egg production in 2006 (tables 3 and 4, figure 2) shows the close correlation between the production volume and population. As eggs can only be transported as shell eggs over short distances, many countries produce most of their egg consumption within their own borders. This is not true for, Greece, and Ireland. These three countries have the lowest self sufficiency rate of all EU member states. is the leading egg importing country with a share of about 20 % of global egg imports. About 80 % of the imported eggs, about 4 billion per year, come from the. For them, is the most important market, as over 70 % of their exports go to the adjacent country. Table 4. Hen egg production in the EU (27) in 2006 (Source: FAO database). Production (t) 850,000 Spain 850, , , ,000 United Kingdom 595, ,232 Romania 355,350 Belgium 243, ,333 Portugal 121,200 Sweden 101,000 Greece 100,089 Bulgaria 99,167 Austria 90,000 Czech Republic 86,675 Denmark 77,000 Slovakia 70,300 Finland 56,700 Lithuania 53,415 Latvia 33,100 Ireland 32,000 Slovenia 22,000 Estonia 11,202 Cyprus 9,457 Malta 7,285 Luxembourg 1,255 European (27) 6,605,187 Europe 10,021,362 World 61,111,024 EU (27) in % of Europe 65.9 EU (27) in % of world

5 A comparison of the ten leading egg producing EU member countries in 2000 and 2006 (table 5) shows that the regional concentration has further increased. In 2006, the top ten hen egg producing countries contributed over 85 % to the production volume of the EU. The share of the four leading countries was as high as 47.7 %. The composition and ranking of the top ten countries has not changed very much, the Czech Republic was replaced by ; Spain,, and changed their positions. In contrast to hen eggs, the development of poultry meat production has been much more dynamic (table 6). Broiler meat production increased by almost 3 mill. t or 53.4 % in the analysed time period. The highest relative growth rates showed duck and turkey meat production. The production volume of goose and guinea fowl meat reached a peak in the early 1990s, from then on, a continuous decrease can be observed. This is mainly due to the stagnating or even decreasing per capita consumption. Table 5. The ten leading hen egg producing countries in the EU (27) in 2000 and 2006 (Source: FAO database, ZMP 2006) Production Share Production Share Spain Un. Kingdom Romania Belgium Czech Repub Spain Un. Kingdom Romania Belgium countries 5, countries 5, EU (27) 7, EU (27) 6, Table 6. The development of poultry meat production in the EU (27) between 1980 and 2006 by meat type; data in 1,000 t (Source: FAO database). Meat Increase type Broiler* Turkey Duck Goose** 5, ,194 1, ,262 2, ,455 1, Total 6,385 7,733 10,784 10, From the data in table 7 one can see that in two EU member states, the United Kingdom and, over 1.5 mill. t of poultry meat were produced in 2006, followed by three countries with a production volume of over 1 mill. t (Spain,, ). Together these five countries contributed almost 59 % to the production volume of the EU (see also figure 3). The contribution of the EU (27) to global meat production varied between only 1.1 % for duck meat and 29.5 % for turkey meat. In total, EU member states in 2006 had a share of 12.5 % of the global production volume. 5

6 In contrast to hen eggs, the development of poultry meat production has been much more dynamic. Broiler meat production increased by almost 3 mill. t or 53.4 % in the analysed time period. The high-est relative growth rates showed duck and turkey meat production. The production volume of goose and guinea fowl meat reached a peak in the early 1990s, from then on, a continuous decrease can be observed. This is mainly due to the stagnating or even decreasing per capita consumption. Table 7. Poultry meat production in the EU (2006) by meat type; data in t (Source: FAO database). Chicken meat Turkey meat Duck meat Goose and guinea fowl meat Total United Kingdom 1,331, ,031 41,654 2,935 1,581, , , ,370 2,410 1,556,290 Spain 1,047,575 21,000-1,068, , ,996 38,514 1,715 1,024, ,000 25,000 16,000 9,200 1,010, , ,816 12, , ,000 61,538 14, ,538 Belgium 484,000 6, , , ,018 39,657 33, ,450 Romania 265, ,690 Portugal 193,427 45, ,427 Czech Republic 207,130 10,382 10,089 3, ,601 Denmark 166, , ,108 Greece 144,395 1, ,514 Ireland 98,472 30,398 2,400 1, ,550 Austria 88,000 25, ,800 Sweden 107,547 1, ,543 Finland 97, ,960 Bulgaria 72, , ,278 Slovakia 86, , ,209 Slovenia 51,000 10,979 1,200 3,900 67,079 Lithuania 56,500 3, ,794 Cyprus 26,951 1, ,430 Latvia 20, ,608 Estonia 12, ,789 Malta 3, ,150 Luxembourg EU (27) 8,454,772 1,711, ,921 72,435 10,660,942 Europe 10,907,841 1,731, ,583 74,285 13,136,537 World 73,057,466 5,797,749 3,846,250 2,528,055 85,229,520 EU (27) in % of Europe EU (27) in % of world

7 The regional concentration in poultry meat production is very high for all meat types as can be seen from tables 8 and 9. Over 99 % of the duck, goose and guinea fowl meat are produced in the ten lead-ing countries, almost 97 % of the turkey meat, and 83 % of the chicken meat. A closer look at the ranking shows specific differences. Table 8. The ten leading chicken and turkey meat producing countries in the EU (27) in 2006 (Source: FAO database, ZMP 2006). United Kingd. Spain Belgium Romania Chicken meat* Production 1,331 1, Share United Kingd. Portugal Ireland Austria Turkey meat Production Share countries 7,019 ** countries 1, EU (27) 8, EU (27) 1, * includes meat of layers; ** sum does not add because of rounding. Table 9. The ten leading duck, goose and guinea fowl meat producing countries in the EU (27) in 2006 (Source: FAO database, ZMP 2006). United Kingd. Bulgaria Czech Rep. Denmark Ireland Duck meat Production Share Goose and guinea fowl meat Production Share Slovenia Czech Rep United Kingd Ireland Bulgaria 10 countries 420 * countries 71.6 *99.4 EU (27) EU (27) * sum does not add because of rounding. In chicken meat production, the United Kingdom ranks at first place with a share of 15.7 %, followed by Spain and. Two other new member states, Romania and, rank as numbers 9 and 10 (figure 4). In turkey meat production, the regional concentration is even higher. Here, the leading countries, and, contributed over 51 % to the production volume of the EU (27). The four top 7

8 producing countries had a share of more than 79 %. and are also to be found among the ten leading turkey meat producers with a share of together 7.8 % (table 8). is dominating duck meat production in the EU with a share of over 55 % as can be seen from table 9, followed by the United Kingdom, and. Four of the ten leading countries are new member states. Together they contributed 20.2 % to the production volume of the EU. Goose and guinea fowl meat is mainly produced in,, and. These three countries had a share of almost 78 % in The six new member countries ranked among the top ten contributed about 70 % to goose and guinea fowl production in the EU. A long tradition of goose production in and is the main reason for this dominating position. 3. Conclusions The main results of this introductory analysis can be summarized as follows: After three decades of growth, the number of produced broilers, turkeys, ducks, and geese de-creased between 2000 and 2006 due to the impacts of Avian Influenza outbreaks and an over-supply on the turkey meat market; The downward trend of layer flocks could be stopped except in,, the Nether-lands and in some East European and Baltic countries; In the EU (27), a close correlation between the population of a member state and its poultry flocks as well as its egg and poultry meat production can be observed with the exception of the. In spite of a comparatively low population they rank in top positions with regard to production and exports; In the EU (27), the organisation of egg and poultry meat production differs considerably. Whereas contract growing is the dominating broiler and turkey meat production, vertically in-tegrates agribusiness companies are in a leading position in many countries in egg production (c. f. final report of WP 3); and The consolidation in the poultry industry initiated a regional concentration process. Densely populated poultry areas with a high competitiveness but also with a high risk regarding the in-troduction and dissemination of highly infectious diseases are the result in several EU member states (c. f. Grabkowsky, Geenen, Windhorst, Saatkamp 2008; this report). References FAO database: 8

9 Appendix Figure1 Distribution of poultry total in Europe (2006) Figure 3 Poultry meat production in Europe (2006) Figure 2 Distribution of layers in Europe (2006) Figure 4 Chicken meat production in Europe (2006) 9