KARACHI: Chicken prices have soared ahead of Eidul Azha, reversing the trend when its rates usually go down because of low demand during the meaty festival.

“In my 35 years of experience, this is the first time that chicken rates have hit a record peak ahead of Eidul Azha,” Pakistan Poultry Association’s (PPA) central chairman, Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf, told Dawn on Wednesday.

The price of live poultry has reached up to Rs560 per kilogram and that of clean meat to Rs820-850. Boneless chicken prices have soared to Rs1,400 per kg, crossing the rate of veal meat (beef), which is selling for Rs1,100-1,200.

Mr Ashraf said the association had warned of a severe poultry crisis six months ago due to feed shortages and high prices. This was caused by restricted imports of soya bean meal followed by curbs on opening letters of credit for importing various other inputs like vitamins and amino acids needed to make poultry feed.

“Today, the poultry industry is facing an acute shortage of soya bean meal, a main ingredient of poultry feed, as the industry is getting only 5 to 10 per cent of its requirement mainly from Africa,” he said, adding that some of it was coming from Afghanistan through illegal channels, but it lacked quality.

He said he had also met PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari a week ago and informed him about the ongoing poultry crisis.

Mr Ashraf said due to feed shortage and its higher prices, the supply of live broiler birds was only 40pc in the markets, leading to an imbalance in prices.

In Punjab, the farm rate was Rs460-470 per kg, on which Rs32 per kg was added due to transportation charges and the profit margin of retailers.

Kamal Akhtar Siddiqui, secretary general of the Sindh Poultry Wholesalers Association, said many people who were not sacrificing any animals this year were turning up in the markets in large numbers at a time when poultry supply is short.

“This is the first time in my profession that five vehicles are still loading poultry birds from the farms at Tando Mohammad Khan in the evening to meet demand just one day ahead of Eid,” he said.

In the first week of June, live bird rates in the city were hovering around Rs440 to Rs470 per kg in Karachi, while its meat was available at Rs680.

As per the Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI), the national average of poultry live bird rate was Rs388-520 per kg earlier this month compared to Rs416-600 per kg a few days ago.

According to the Economic Survey 2022-23, the poultry sector is a critical component of the livestock industry, employing over 1.5 million people in Pakistan.

With a substantial investment of more than Rs1.056 trillion, the industry has experienced impressive growth, averaging a 7.3pc annual growth rate over the past decade. This expansion has led to Pakistan becoming the 11th-largest poultry producer in the world, with vast potential for future growth and advancement.

Milk prices

Meanwhile, milk traders are planning to increase prices by Rs20 per litre from July 1 to Rs230 due to a hike in prices by dairy farmers.

The retailers earlier raised the price of loose milk by Rs10, to Rs220 per litre from June 1, but reversed it on June 10 after the city administration warned of action against dairy farmers and wholesalers, including the possibility of FIRs.

However, some three days ago, dairy farmers had again started issuing price increase warnings of Rs20 per litre from July 1, which would take the per-litre price to Rs230.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2023