Poultry farmgate prices pulled down by soft demand, oversupply – UBRA

MANILA, Philippines — Local poultry raisers have flagged declining farmgate prices for chicken amid lower demand and oversupply of production.

United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) president Elias Jose Inciong said low farmgate prices for locally grown chicken have continued due to weaker demand and an increase in domestic output.

“Normally, this time of the year, because of the humidity, it is hard to produce even if you have modern facilities. It’s really demand and oversupply. There is no problem in production,” Inciong told reporters.

UBRA earlier warned that demand for broiler chicken has gone down as the Middle East conflict continues to drive fuel prices upward.

He noted that weaker demand for chicken stemmed largely from Filipinos’ tightening their purchases as fuel costs increased.

Inciong said chicken farmers are at a loss as the costs of raising chicks have increased despite low farmgate prices, noting that farmers may be discouraged from continuing to raise chicken.

“This is really concerning because if they become discouraged importing hatchlings will be expensive because of the exchange rate,” he added.

Inciong also warned that chicken farmgate prices may further decline to P70 per kilogram once poultry harvest begins by the end of May.

“By the end of the month, once the harvest begins, it could collapse. There was a time when the farmgate hit P70 per kilo,” he added.

Local chicken production rose to 585,470 metric tons in the first quarter of 2026, a 5.8-percent increase compared to the 553,450 MT a year earlier, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.