Brazil’s chicken exports rise 25% in August as beef shipments fall 22.2%
Brazil exported 492,600 tonnes of chicken meat in August, about 25% more year on year, as shipments to China rebounded sharply. Beef exports fell 22.2% to 233,500 tonnes after Brazil exhausted China’s lower-tariff quota.
Poultry shipments rebound
Brazil exported 492,600 tonnes of chicken meat in August, an increase of about 25% from the same month of 2025, according to industry association data reported by InfoMoney. China provided the main impetus and returned as the largest destination for Brazilian poultry during the month.
Shipments to China reached 51,000 tonnes, compared with only 83 tonnes in August 2025. Last year’s unusually low base reflected temporary trade suspensions imposed after a case of avian influenza was detected at a commercial poultry farm in Brazil. The latest volume therefore represents a normalization of access to the Chinese market as well as a sharp statistical rebound.
The value of August chicken exports reached $997.87 million, up 42.7% year on year. The Brazilian Animal Protein Association, ABPA, said this was the second-highest monthly revenue in the country’s historical series, behind only May 2026. Revenue grew considerably faster than volume, indicating a stronger average export return across the overall product mix.
Beef trade constrained by Chinese quota
Brazilian beef exports moved in the opposite direction. Shipments totaled 233,500 tonnes in August 2026, down 22.2% from a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Beef Exporters Association, Abiec. The decline followed a reduction of almost 90% in volumes sent to China, Brazil’s critical overseas market for beef.
China set a 1.1 million-tonne quota for imports of Brazilian beef in 2026. Once that lower-tariff allocation is exhausted, the tariff rises to 55%, a level that Abiec says makes further transactions commercially unviable. The quota mechanism consequently caused a pronounced slowdown after heavy deliveries earlier in the year.
Abiec president Roberto Perosa said the industry had expected the movement. Exporters brought forward substantial volumes to China during the first half, he said, and flows then declined naturally when the quota ran out. The August contraction should therefore be viewed partly as a timing and market-access effect rather than evidence of uniformly weaker demand for Brazilian beef across all destinations.
Year-to-date figures remain positive
Despite the divergent August results, both sectors recorded year-on-year growth over the first eight months of 2026. Brazilian chicken exports reached 3.91 million tonnes from January through August, an increase of 15.5%. Poultry export revenue rose by about 22% to $7.69 billion.
Beef exports totaled 2.202 million tonnes during the same period, up 5.3%, while revenue advanced 21.7% to $12.79 billion. InfoMoney reported that strong Chinese purchases before the August retreat supported the accumulated beef figures. As with poultry, beef revenue increased much faster than physical shipments over the eight-month period.
The August data expose two different forms of dependence on the Chinese market. Poultry exporters benefited from the restoration of trade after a health-related disruption, while beef suppliers faced a tariff barrier once a fixed quota was filled. For processors and traders, the immediate outlook now depends on whether poultry’s restored access produces sustained Chinese buying and whether beef exporters can redirect volumes or adjust shipment timing around China’s quota system.
