Turkey's poultry production up in October

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey's chicken meat production rose by 3.6% year-on-year in October, the country's statistical authority announced Friday.

In the country, while chicken meat production was 188,557 tons in October, turkey meat production soared by 4.6% to reach 5,926 tons, TurkStat said.

The number of slaughtered chicken was 104 million, increasing by 3% in October on an annual basis, the institute noted.

The number of slaughtered turkeys fell by 0.2% to 579,000 units over the same period, it added.

The official poultry production report also revealed that hen egg production went up by 2.1% to reach 1.7 billion units over the same period.

- Poultry exports reach over $650 million

During the first 10 months of 2019, the country produced 1.78 million tons of chicken and turkey meat, down slightly from 1.8 million tons last year.

The hen egg production increased by 1.3% to reach 16.46 billion units in the same period.

Turkey's egg exports totaled $247 million in the January-October period, while exports of meat from poultry animals reached $482 million.

The country's total poultry exports -- egg and meat -- was $729 million in the 10 months.

In 2018, Turkey's chicken and turkey meat production totaled 2.85 million tons. Last year, Turkey produced 19.6 billion hen eggs with an annual hike of nearly 2%.