A total of 1.184 billion birds were slaughtered, which represents a growth of 12.2% in comparison with the same period of 2007.
Chicken exports grew 12.6% in the first quarter. Revenues from exports, however, recorded a much greater increase, as the average price per ton rose from US$ 1,192 in the first three months of 2007 to US$ 1,233 in the first quarter this year.
In the case of chicken eggs, there was an increase of 8.2% in production, which reached 570,500 dozens of eggs during the period.
With regard to milk, 4.88 billion liters were industrialized in the first three months this year, a volume 9.3% greater than in the same period of 2007.
In the foreign market, there has been an expansion of 10.8% in raw milk sales, and the average price per ton went from US$ 1,283 to US$ 1,733 from January to March 2008. Shipments of powdered milk, the leading export item in the dairy production chain, grew 25.6% in volume and 140.3% in revenues.
Bovine production, however, recorded a 10.1% decrease in the first quarter this year. A total of 7,154 animals were slaughtered. There was a reduction of 27.6% in volume of exported beef.
The increase in the price of the product, however, made up for eventual losses in revenues. Average price per ton leaped from US$ 2,426 in the first three months of 2007 to US$ 3.528 in the first quarter this year.
Anba