The average farm-gate prices of broilers rose above the P85-per-kilogram level after local raisers “involuntarily” reduced output due to anemic domestic demand, the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) said.
Ubra said farm-gate prices of broilers recovered for the second consecutive week. The industry has been grappling with a supply glut caused by high stocks of local and imported poultry coupled with low demand.
Latest Ubra price survey as of October 9 showed that the average farm-gate price of regular-sized broilers (1.5 kilograms to 1.69 kilograms) was at P87.33 per kg, which was 17.5 percent higher than last week’s P74.33 per kg.
Ubra data also showed that regular-sized broilers in Tarlac were sold at P89 per kg while those in Bulacan and Batangas were sold at P88 per kg and P85 per kg, respectively.
The average farm-gate price of off-sized broilers rose by 17.88 percent to P85.67 per kg while prime-sized broilers were sold at an average of P88.33 per kg, P14.16 higher than last week’s prices, Ubra data showed.
Ubra President Elias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror the price recovery could be attributed to the reduction in local output.
“The industry has involuntarily followed the desires of DA-BAI [Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry] to ‘self-regulate.’ We have reduced production because of losses in the face of cheap imports,” he said.
Inciong said local broiler output has been slashed by 30 percent to 40 percent to achieve a “supply-demand equilibrium where producers can earn some income and not suffer losses.”
“We lost the HRI [hotel, restaurant and institutional] market during the lockdown which is 30 percent. Assume that 10 percent is back so [we’re still mising] 20 percent for HRI,” he said.
“Household demand has also contracted because of income loss as a result of the Covid-19 quarantines,” he added.
Local chicken meat output this year is projected to decline by almost 14 percent to 1.25 million metric tons (MMT) from last year’s record-high 1.45 MMT due to anticipated production cuts by raisers, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
The USDA expects an output to recover next year as total chicken meat production may rise by 10 percent to 1.375 MMT.