Turkey's poultry production up in September

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Chicken meat production in Turkey jumped by 15.1% in September on an annual basis, the country's statistical authority announced Wednesday.

Chicken meat production amounted to 188,165 tons in September, while turkey meat production rose by 19.3% to reach 5,635 tons, TurkStat said.

The number of the slaughtered chicken was 104 million in the same month, soared by 11.9% versus year-on-year, the institute noted.

It added that the number of the slaughtered turkeys climbed by 22% to 594,000 units over the same period.

The official poultry production report also revealed that hen egg production in Turkey totaled 1.7 billion units, increasing 3.2% year-on-year in September.

- Poultry exports reach over $650 million

During the first nine months of 2019, the country produced 1.64 million tons of chicken and turkey meat, down slightly from 1.68 million tons last year.

The hen egg production rose by 1.2% to reach 14.72 billion units in the same period.

Turkey's egg exports reached $222.18 million, down from $310.7 million year-on-year in the January-September period, while exports of meat from poultry animals rose by 6% to some $430.2 million.

The country's total poultry exports -- meat and egg -- amounted to $652.4 million in the nine-month period.

In 2018, Turkey's chicken and turkey meat production totaled 2.85 million tons.

Last year, Turkey produced 19.6 billion hen eggs with an annual hike of nearly 2%.