South African poultry producers are studying putting forward an anti-dumping case to the government against imported Brazilian chicken products, according to the African nation’s second-biggest producer of the birds.

The Southern African Poultry Association “is doing work to investigate making a case,” Chris Schutte, chief executive officer of SAPA member Astral Foods Ltd., said in Johannesburg today. Some Brazilian poultry products are sold in South Africa at a third lower than prices in the country of origin, he said.

Astral, based in Pretoria, fears unfair imports could hurt its profit. The company expects imports to rise this year after surging 42 percent in December from a year earlier.

Average broiler prices were the lowest in about four years in 2010 even as per capita consumption rose, Schutte said. Shipments are expected to rise this year after they reached 28,000 metric tons in December, the equivalent of about 21 million chicken carcasses, or 5 million a week, he said.

Local production of about 18 million chickens a week is also threatened by gains in the rand that make imports more competitive, Schutte said. Last year, 71 percent of total poultry imports of 268,225 tons came from Brazil and about 10 percent from Argentina, he said.

“The strong rand is playing havoc,” he said. The currency has gained about 38 percent in the past two years to 7.29 against the dollar.

SAPA officials weren’t available to comment when Bloomberg News called the association’s offices today seeking comment.

Astral’s profit margins probably improved over the past few months, Schutte said. While December broiler prices were in line with a year earlier, input costs decreased, he said. February and March prices are expected to be higher than a year earlier, according to data included in a copy of his presentation.
Shares in Astral gained 0.3 percent to 127.33 rand at 3:54 p.m. in Johannesburg trading.