Chicken prices in the domestic market are bound to increase, otherwise many producers will be forced to close down, says the CEO of the National Union of Chicken Farmers.
“The problem now is that supply exceeds demand and this is the main reason why we are forced to sell for less than our end prices. Farmers spend around 450,000 rials [$1.3] to produce each kilo of chicken, yet the government has set the market price at 280,000 rials [$0.82],” Habib Asadollah-Nejad was also quoted as saying by the news portal of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture.
This causes hefty losses to chicken farmers and will lead to their bankruptcy.
The government has eliminated the subsidy for importing poultry feed, he noted, adding that poultry feed is scarce in the market.
Mohammad Yousefi, the head of Chicken Producers Association, told ILNA that he expects a majority of chicken farms to close down in the next three months.
According to the official, 130 million day-old chicks enter poultry production units every month and the annual production of chicken stands at 2.3 million tons.
“Under the current circumstances, production is declining every day,” he added.
A total of 206,873 tons of poultry meat were produced in Iran’s official slaughterhouses in the last fiscal year’s 12th month (Feb. 20-March 20), indicating a 17% rise compared with last year’s corresponding period.
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, chicken accounted for 200,367 tons or 96.9% of the overall production while other types of poultry, such as turkey, quail, ostrich and partridge, amounted to 7,153 tons or 3.1% of the overall poultry output during the period under review.
