An analysis of U.S. chicken exports to China

by 1975- Zhang, Li

The United States is the world’s largest poultry producer and exporter. Hong Kong/China has been the second largest market for U.S. poultry products in recent years. The growth potential for chicken exports to this market is great, given China’s large population, relatively low per capita consumption of chicken, expected rising incomes, and the recent inclusion of China in the WTO. In this study, we examined the exports of different frozen chicken parts from the U.S. to Hong Kong/China. Excess supply and demand equations were estimated using three stage least squares, and elasticities were calculated. The results indicate that there may be some differences in income elasticities and price flexibility coefficients of different parts, and suggests that the U.S. may treat Hong Kong/China as a residual market for lower valued parts.