EN 
PT_BR With the production pace under control and exports breaking records, chicken meat prices remained sustained in March and the first half of April. Despite the rise in corn prices, soybean meal prices in the opposite direction have moderated the impact on feed costs.
Prices for whole slaughtered chicken remained firm in March, averaging R$8.40/kg, 15% higher than in March 2024, and rose again in the first half of April, approaching R$9/kg in recent days. Production costs have also been rising, slightly reducing the spread for sales of poultry in the domestic market, to around R$40%, although still above the historical average of R$35%.
In general, animal protein prices remained high in the first quarter. For the three meats (beef, pork and chicken), the year has been marked by small increases in production and new export records, despite rising feed costs.
From the point of view of price relations between meats, even with the firm poultry, the relationship remained favorable in the first half of April, at around 2.3 kg of chicken/kg forequarter, above the average of 2.06 kg chicken/forequarter and, therefore, still relatively cheap. However, when compared with the half carcass of pork, the relationship worsened in April.
Exports of fresh chicken meat in March totaled 409 thousand tons, up 2.9% over March 2024 and 3.3% in the January-March 2025/2024 comparison, surpassing last year's record. In addition, the average price (USD 1,889/t) also increased by 0.8% compared to February 2025, still being 9% higher than March 2024. When we look at the destinations in the first quarter, the increases to Mexico (152%), which is the 7th largest foreign buyer, the Philippines (22%) and South Korea (17%) stand out, more than offsetting the lower sales to the United Arab Emirates (-10%), first place, and China (-22%), third largest in 1Q25.
