FILE PHOTO: Chickens sit at a poultry farm as Brazil's egg exports soar amid stronger U.S. demand, in Taquari, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Diego Vara/File Photo

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil's poultry exports fell in both value and volume in May from a year earlier, government data showed on Thursday, as trade restrictions following a bird flu case weighed on the sector.

Herlon Brandao, director of Statistics and Foreign Trade Studies at the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, said at a press conference that poultry exports had been on the rise before the outbreak, the first on a commercial farm in Brazil.

In May, poultry exports fell 12.9% to $655 million, while volumes declined 14.4% to about 363,100 metric tons.

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; additional reporting by Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo; Writing by Andre Romani, Editing by Natalia Siniawski)