Turkey's poultry production up in 9 months

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Chicken meat production in Turkey rose by 0.9% in the first nine months of 2020 on an annual basis, the country's statistical authority announced Wednesday.

Chicken meat production amounted to 1.61 million tons in the nine-month period, while turkey meat production rose by 5.5% to reach 44,788 tons, TurkStat said.

The figure for slaughtered chicken was 909.3 million units in the same period, up 0.5% year-on-year, the institute noted.

The figure for slaughtered turkeys climbed by 3.8% to 4,377 units over the same period.

The official poultry production report also revealed that hen egg production in Turkey totaled 14.6 billion units, decreasing slightly by 0.5% year-on-year during the first three quarters.

Meanwhile, in September, chicken and turkey meat production totaled 174,035 (down 7.8%) and 4,563 tons (down 7.9%), respectively. Turkey also produced 1.6 billion hen egg, decreasing 4.5% in September on a yearly basis.

- Poultry exports reach over $550M

Turkey's egg exports reached $168.9 million, down from $222 million year-on-year in the January-September period, while exports of meat from poultry animals decreased by 11.1% to some $382.3 million.

The country's total poultry exports -- meat and egg -- amounted to $551.2 million in the nine-month period.

In 2018, Turkey's chicken and turkey meat production totaled 2.2 million tons, while nearly 19.9 billion hen eggs were produced.