The Island bought 127,000 tons of chicken in the first half of 2024 for a value of 150.9 million dollars
14ymedio, Havana, 8 August 2024 — The export of chicken from the United States to Cuba in the first half of this year reached 127,000 tons, 8.6% less than what the Island bought in the same period of 2023 (139,000 tons). However, due to the increase in its price, spending increased by 7% in the same period: from 141 million dollars in 2023 to 150.9 million this year.
In summary, the Island is receiving much less chicken than in the first half of 2023, but the cost is greater. A kilo of poultry meat, which this month is at $1.23, fell by almost 9% compared to May, when it cost 1.34.
As for the monthly data, this June, Cuba bought 20,000 tons of chicken, which represents a decrease of 25.9% compared to June 2023, though an increase of 15% compared to last May.
However, if the data for this June are equated with those of January of this year, when the Island imported more than 30,000 tons of chicken – the highest figure this semester – the amount of meat for the sixth month of the year drops by a scandalous 30%.
According to the Cuban economist Pedro Monreal, these numbers are nothing more than a clear representation of “the usual oscillating trajectory of monthly exports of chicken meat from the United States to Cuba,” he explained on the social network X.
The professor also noted that chicken imported from the United States is “the most consumed source of animal protein in Cuba and compensates for the acute national agricultural crisis.”
Chicken is one of the six “essential” foods whose price the Government set last July at 680 pesos per kilo. The popular response, especially on private platforms and SMsEs, was to make the product vanish. According to 14ymedio at the time, many merchants preferred to lose the merchandise or sell it “on the left” to lose money.
Although, in addition to chicken, the Government also exempted powdered milk, vegetable oil, pasta, detergent and sausages from import taxes, spirits did not calm down. On July 6, in some markets in Sancti Spíritus and Havana, a kilo of poultry meat – in packages of thighs – exceeded 850 pesos, according to this newspaper.
Likewise, a report made a few days ago in Cienfuegos revealed that chicken, milk and oil, the most essential and expensive among regulated foods, were still missing from the stalls and SMSEs. “Some sellers still have the old prices on the signs, or products that they sold regularly have simply disappeared. It is likely that many have decided to sell on the informal market and recover the investment,” said a cienfueguero at the time.
The authorities have started a campaign against the “unscrupulous” who continue to sell at abusive prices
For their part, the authorities have started a campaign against the “unscrupulous” who continue to sell at abusive prices. However, the reports of millions of pesos in fines, the deployment of an army of inspectors and threats to remove licenses and close businesses have not managed to change the landscape.
According to Monreal, these “problematic” measures for the Island’s economy – in frank crisis – are based on the “official assumption” that it is possible to “stabilize low prices” in the domestic market by exerting pressure, without considering the low supply.
As always happens, when chicken imports decrease, the entry into the country of portions such as thighs and drumsticks, cheaper in the international market, is privileged. Other parts of the bird, like the breast or even whole chickens, are relegated because they are more expensive. There is less internal demand for them, though private restaurants like them for their versatility
The cooks must then become real surgeons, as happened this week in the El Biky restaurant branch on the outskirts of terminal 3 of Havana International Airport. For 2,600 Cuban pesos, the customer receives a dish with rice, a small portion of potatoes and a surprising chicken thigh turned, due to the crisis, into steak.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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