Following the outbreak of the new coronavirus, the balance between production and demand has been disturbed in the chicken industry and producers have suffered great financial loss.
According to Mehdi Yousefkhani, the head of Tehran’s Union of Fowl and Fish Sellers, there has been a 50% decline in chicken consumption in Iran following the virus outbreak.
The severe shortage of animal feed, including soybean and corn meal, poses a challenge for poultry farmers, IRNA reported.
The above factors have led to the culling of millions of day-old chickens. The measure was taken to prevent further losses to producers, as lower demand has led to surplus production. Their losses have been reported to reach tens of millions of dollars.
This is while major export markets, including Afghanistan and Iraq, have been lost as a result of trade restrictions.
According to Yousefkhani, the considerable decrease in chicken consumption is due to the shutdown of restaurants, ceremony halls and hotels, among others.
He noted that prior to the disease, 30% of the country’s chicken output were consumed by these businesses.
Tariffs on chicken exports have declined from 50,000 rials ($31) to 15,000 rials ($0.09) per kilogram.
The average Producer Price Index for industrial chicken farms in the four-quarter period to the end of the third quarter of the current Iranian year (Dec. 21) increased by 42.23% compared with last year's corresponding period.
The overall PPI for the sector in autumn (Sept. 23-Dec. 21, 2019), using 2011 as the base year, stood at 537.09.
The index indicates a 10.44% increase compared with the preceding quarter and a 14.14% rise compared with last year's same quarter.
The highest quarter-on-quarter increase of the index among Iranian provinces during the period under review was registered for Gilan with 40.22% and the sharpest decline was recorded in Lorestan with 10.62%.
On a year-on-year basis, Sistan-Baluchestan registered the highest increase with 67.57% and Qom posted the biggest decrease with 5.08%, the Statistical Center of Iran reported.
