Saudi Arabia’s poultry industry growing despite challenges

Saudi Arabia’s chicken producers are being encouraged to raise production and follow in the footsteps of the kingdom’s egg sector, which has more than satisfied local demand for decades.

Read the entire report about Saudi Arabia’s poultry industry exclusively in the January issue of Poultry International.

Saudi Arabia’s output of chicken meat and eggs are thought to have continued their upward trends last year with broiler meat output reaching 760,000 tons, up slightly from the 755,000 tons recorded in 2016, while table egg production rose by 2 percent to stand at 5.1 billion.

Output of broiler meat in the kingdom is expected to continue upwards for the foreseeable future, reports the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Saudi government has set a strategic goal of satisfying 60 percent of local demand within the next five years, and several development projects are in place to help reach that target.

For example, the country’s largest poultry producer, Al-Watania, is in the process of constructing a mega poultry farm in the province of Al-Jour, which is expected to be operational by 2020. The farm will increase the company’s daily production of broilers from 820,000 to 1 million. Table egg production is planned to rise by 1.5 percent to 3 million eggs per day.

Saudi Arabia may have one of the highest levels of per capita poultry meat consumption in the world – 51 kg – but satisfying that demand locally is not easy, despite increasing chicken production being a government strategy

https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/32782-saudi-arabias-poultry-industry-growing-despite-challenges