Poultry growers are starting to see a brighter Christmas, as farm-gate price of chicken has started to normalize, more than two months after an avian influenza (AI) outbreak in Central Luzon.
Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol said he has received reports that farm-gate price of chicken, particularly for broiler, has sustained its growth in the previous months resulting in a brighter prospect of profitability for the sector this December.
“I was told by the stakeholders that the prices are improving. However, I am not certain of the exact market price right now, but I have received reports from stakeholders prices have gone up,” Piñol told reporters in a recent interview.
Market price
Data obtained by the BusinessMirror from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that the average farm-gate price of broiler chicken, as of October 16, reached P92.07 per kilogram, a 65.89-percent increase from the P55.50 per kilogram price level recorded a month ago.
During the reference period, the BAI recorded the highest farm-gate price of broiler chicken at P93 per kilogram, while the lowest was at P91 per kilogram.
Increments in the dressweight price of chicken and day-old chicks (DOC) were also observed during the period. The average chicken dressweight price grew by a fifth or by 20.34 percent to P116.33 per kilogram, from P96.67 per kilogram recorded price mark a month ago.
BAI data showed that the farm-gate price of DOC has normalized back to P25 per piece, nearly 75 percent higher than the P14.33 per piece recorded a month ago.
On a weekly basis, farm-gate price of broiler chicken and DOCs grew by 3.44 percent and 23.17 percent, respectively.
Flocks reloaded
The United Broilers Raisers Association earlier told the BusinessMirror that some poultry growers have started to reload their flocks to take advantage of the expected increase in demand for broiler meat as the holiday season approaches. This, they noted, contributed to the recovery of the farm-gate price of broiler chicken.
While bird flu struck mostly commercial layers, the farm-gate price of broilers took a hit because consumers panicked over the government’s discovery of the outbreak.
No chicken import
As the farm-gate price of broiler chicken reaches a profitable level for poultry growers, Piñol pronounced that he will not authorize any special importation chicken this year as local output remain ample to meet the domestic demand, especially during the holiday season.
He made the statement after his recent meeting with local meat importers who asked him about his stance on the possibility of a special importation for chicken meat.
“They [meat importers] should somehow show sympathy to our Filipino poultry raisers who are just started to recover after the liveweight price of chicken sunk drastically,” he said.
“It is only three months before the year ends and let us allow our poultry farmers to earn even a little bit this December,” he added.
The idea of allowing a special importation for chicken meat floated just five days after the AI incident in San Luis, Pampanga was confirmed, as worries about the sufficiency of local supply were raised by the government.
However, the local poultry industry immediately debunked the notion that there could be possible shortage in production due to AI.
Inventory
The industry noted that they are more than capable of supplying the country’s poultry meet requirement, even during the Christmas when demand from consumers usually increases.
Latest data from the National Meat Inspection Service showed that the country’s chicken inventory level, as of October 2, reached 39,037.91 metric tons (MT), 8.48 percent higher than the 35,986.12 MT recorded level same time period last year.
However, the latest inventory figure was nearly 7 percent lower than the 41,975.55-MT volume of dressed chicken held in the country’s accredited cold storages in the previous week.
Bulk of the dressed chicken inventory in the first week of October or about 75.71 percent came from local poultry sector which reached 29,555.59 MT.
About 31.63 percent of the locally dressed chicken were stored in accredited cold storages in Central Luzon, where the AI incidents were reported.