MOBILE, Alabama -- Stacked onto pallets, stored in containers, and frozen at bone-chilling temperatures, Alabama's chickens feed the world.

Every year, more than 200,000 tons of poultry is exported out of Alabama's state docks in Mobile. It is sent to Hong Kong, Romania, Estonia and Latvia. Alabama chicken makes it way to countries across Latin America, Central America, and the Middle East. 

As much as 50,000 tons of Alabama poultry travels 877 miles from Mobile to Cuba annually. Alabama began shipping the goods to the island nation in 2000 when U.S. government loosened its trade restrictions on medical supplies and food.

A major air cargo carrier at Huntsville International Airport says it is expanding its controlled air freight network with a new full-freighter service to Brazil.

In addition to scheduled charter flights from Hong Kong to Huntsville, Panalpina announced Thursday it will run flights from Huntsville to São Paulo, Brazil, as a result of a renewed long-term agreement between the company and Atlas Air.

"Our customers in the U.S. have a need for fast and efficient connections to Brazil," said Lucas Kuehner, global head of Air Freight at Panalpina. "The new set up with Atlas Air, where we switched one of our wet-leased aircraft to 200 scheduled charters per year, allows us to meet this demand effectively."

By Lisa Rogers Savage

February was Career Technical Month, a time devoted to discussing the importance of technical skills and how they affect students' futures.

So it was fitting that in February, students with SkillsUSA at the Etowah County Career Technical School worked on a community service project for Habitat for Humanity.

Revenue bonds issued by the Alabama State Port Authority were upgraded this week by Fitch Ratings on account of strong debt repayments and recent revenue diversification. The agency announced that the rating for the Port Authority's nearly $305 million docks facilities revenue bonds would change from "BBB+" to "A-."

Last year the Port Authority reported handling a record amount of products for 2014, with steel volumes posting a 40 percent increase, and iron, steel and forest products ending with a record of 7.3 million tons, Fitch noted.

Coal makes up about half of the Port Authority's revenue, serving a small number group of customers. Birmingham-headquartered Walter Energy and Drummond Company are two of its main contract customers at the McDuffie Coal Terminal.