A total of 472,700 tons of poultry meat were produced at Iran’s official slaughterhouses in the fourth quarter of last Iranian year (Dec. 21, 2020-March 20).
The Statistical Center of Iran’s report shows chicken accounted for 461,600 tons or 97.6% of overall poultry production while turkey, quail, ostrich and partridge amounted to 11,100 tons or 2.4% of the total poultry output during the period under review.
The average weight of each chicken supplied in Q4 stood at 1.9 kg, turkey 9.1 kg and quail 0.3 kg, while other types of poultry averaged 1.6 kg.
According to Hassan Abbasi Maroufan, Government Trading Corporation of Iran's commercial affairs deputy, per capita consumption of chicken in Iran is 28 kilograms per year, which indicates that total consumption is not more than 2.2 million tons.
“A total of 7,300 tons of chicken were supplied to the market on a single day on April 12, which means supply outweighs demand,” he added.
Statistics of Agriculture Ministry show 2.5 million tons of chicken were produced and supplied to the market in the last fiscal year (March 2020-21), IRNA reported.
Earlier this month, Deputy Agriculture Minister Morteza Rezaie announced that the chicken farmers’ failure to supply broiler chicken older than 50 days of age at government-mandated prices amounts to hoarding and is punishable by not only a fine, but also denial of access to the ministry’s websites for getting subsidized poultry feed.
The government plans to import a total of 50,000 tons of chicken, the director general of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade’s Commercial Affairs Bureau said recently.
“Domestic consumption of chicken stands at 6,000 to 7,000 tons per day, and when there is a shortage in the local market, the government taps into the country’s strategic reserves, which stands at around 30,000 tons. This year, imports will take place from Turkey and Brazil to meet the domestic market demand,” Sodayf Beykzadeh was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
It was ratified during the Cabinet meeting on March 14 that these consignments be imported at the subsidized rate of 42,000 rials per dollar by State Livestock Affairs Logistics Inc.
The Agriculture Minister has announced that all chicken farms are obliged to supply their 45-day-old chicken to slaughterhouses.
Earlier, the director general of Exports Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration notified a ban on chicken exports to customs offices across the country.
As per Ali Akbar Shademani’s directive, chicken exports have been banned starting March 10th and will continue until further notice.
The measure has been taken following the shortage of chicken meat in the country, IRNA reported.
Habib Asadollahnejad, the deputy head of Iran Chicken Farmers Union, said, “To our knowledge, the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade had ratified the ban on chicken exports nearly five months ago in October, yet officials from the responsible body only communicated the directive to IRICA a few days ago.”
This means, the official told ILNA, exports of the product have continued throughout this period, despite the turmoil and soaring prices in the domestic market.
“One reason may be that the price of each kilogram of chicken in the neighboring markets is at $1.5, which is a lot more than prices in the local market. This tempted middlemen and smugglers to buy chicken produced with subsidized poultry feed and sell them illegally to the regional and neighboring countries,” he added.
According to Asadollah-Nejad, the outbound smuggling of day-old chicken resulted in the shortage of the product in the local markets and led to a price hike.
“The government has set the price of a kilogram of chicken at 249,000 rials [about $1]; retailers across the country are required to comply with the decision,” he was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
Abbas Tabesh, the head of Iran Consumer and Producer Protection Organization, says there is surplus chicken meat production in all Iranian provinces, which means the government has to take extreme measures against middlemen and smugglers who cause disruptions in the domestic market.
Official statistics show Iran exported more than 7,000 tons of chicken worth over $13.28 million during the first quarter of last fiscal year (March 20-June 20).
“The three top destinations of Iran’s chicken meat during the three-month period were Afghanistan with 4,116 tons worth $8.19 million, Iraq with 2,523 tons worth $3.6 million and Venezuela with 264 tons worth $585,205,” Rouhollah Latifi, spokesman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
