Plummeting chicken price sparks buying spree

Chicken prices went down last week sparking a buying spree in the city, although stakeholders in the poultry industry described the current price level as “unrealistic,” saying it would spiral upward again. The chicken meat price on Sunday was Rs 145 per kg while live chicken has been selling at Rs 98 to Rs 100 per kg for more than a week now.
The price came down to Rs 133 per kg that resulted in bulk buying. Buyers and sellers both were happy but the poultry farmers suffered. They said if the current price levels prevailed for a few more days, it would adversely affect their business. Former Pakistan Poultry Association president Abdul Basit said the farmers were hit hard by low chicken price. He said live chicken cost Rs 110-115 per kilogram while the farmers have to sell it for Rs 80-85 perk kg.
“At the current price levels, the poultry breeders are suffering a deficit of Rs 25-30 per kg, though they hope that they would cover their losses in the coming days,” Basit said, adding unfortunately, the government machinery intervenes in the price mechanism and tries to control it artificially. He said it is a free market economy and perishable items determine their prices themselves, but the government intervention plays havoc with the industry.
“The farmers cannot bear losses for a long time. If they continue to suffer losses, they will have no option but to pack up their business,” he said. “It is the customers who suffer the most as they have to go for more expensive beef and mutton.” He urged the government to understand the situation and give the poultry farmers incentives instead of pressuring them. In the past, there have been incidents that the district government officials tried to control the prices by freezing them at certain level.
The retail sellers said their sales have doubled due to low prices and as a result their profits also increased. “In routine, my regular customers used to buy 3 to 5 kg of chicken each, but now they are buying 6 to 7 kg,” said a chicken seller, Zulfiqar Nagina, adding his profit has doubled due to high volume of sales. A majority of customers said they have stopped consuming beef and mutton, as both are more expensive than chicken.
“Beef price is Rs 250 to Rs 280 per kg while mutton price is Rs 450-600 per kg therefore chicken is cheaper than both,” said a customer, Liaqat Ali. “I used to buy 10-12 kg of chicken in a month but this month I bought more than 20 kg,” he added.