Coronavirus Covid-19: US chicken shipments redirected from China

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The Chinese authorities are diverting ships transporting chicken products from the US to China to South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

A US-based poultry export trade group blamed the outbreak for delays in poultry purchases and unloading products at ports. It has also caused the lockdown of several cities, including Wuhan, and has confined consumers and workers to their homes.

US Poultry and Egg Export Council president Jim Sumner said that refrigerated containers at Chinese ports have reached capacity.

Once ships offload the refrigerated containers, they require plugging into electrical outlets to keep frozen meat and other products cool.

Frozen and refrigerated poultry products have reportedly begun to spoil due to limited space availability and lack of power.

Sumner explained that freight, port and government officials have informed US poultry exporters that shipments of medical supplies and pork for China’s reserves have the highest priority. They do not consider other products a priority and will deny them entry.

Currently, around 300 to 400 refrigerated poultry containers in transit have reportedly diverted to other locations.

In November, the ban on importing poultry products from the US was revoked by the Chinese Government after nearly five years.

The US expected the decision to impact US poultry producers shipping goods to China worth $1bn or more annually.