Raisers complain chicken sold at double the farmgate

MANILA, Philippines —  Poultry raisers from the United Broiler Raisers Association (UBRA) are grappling with the exorbitant retail prices of chicken, soaring as high as P200 per kilo in Metro Manila markets, which is double the farmgate price of only P95 a kilo.

In a radio interview yesterday, lawyer Elias Inciong, UBRA president, said that since there is a low demand for chicken, traders and retailers have increased their prices to ensure revenues.

“If we compare the farmgate and the retail price of chicken, the difference is almost 100 percent. The average retail price based on the price watch of the Department of Agriculture (DA) is at P180 (per kilo) compared to the farmgate price of P95 (per kilo),” Inciong said.

Consumption of chicken went down mainly because of the buying power of consumers and so the market reacted. “Traders and vendors in the markets need to survive. If they cannot get it from volume, they increase the prices,” Inciong said.

In Luzon, poultry raisers are only break-even with farmgate prices between P95 and P115 per kilo, according to UBRA. In Visayas and Mindanao, it is between P105 and P115 per kilo.

Inciong said some members of their group are forced to place their stocks in cold storage facilities due to low demand for chicken, even as imported frozen chicken continue to flood the country.

He said UBRA is closely coordinating with the DA to ensure that it will not implement the wrong policy of allowing special importation and allow lower tariff for imported chicken.

“The DA should not only monitor the retail prices, they need to see the farmgate prices,” Inciong stressed.

On the other hand, there is also a problem with eggs. Gregorio San Diego, UBRA and Philippine Egg Board chairman, told The STAR recently that egg production has dropped by 20 percent due to the bird flu outbreak.

“If a total 10 million (chicken layers) were culled, that’s big but based on the estimate of the industry the total population is more than 45 million, in fact it is at 60 million,” San Diego said.

“The egg production this year fell compared to last year but the buying power of the consumers also decreased. We suffer losses in feeds alone as each chicken layer consumes at least P5 in feeds daily,” he lamented.

Since traders buy their eggs at below P4 per piece, that translates to an instant loss for producers, he added.