Some poultry plants sell their day-old chicken to neighboring countries despite receiving subsidized poultry feed from the government.
According to Habib Asadollah-Nejad, the deputy head of Iran Chicken Farmers Union, the outbound trafficking of day-old chicken has resulted in the shortage and price hike of the product in the local market.
“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.
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 overall consumption is not more than 2.2 million tons.
A total of 7,300 tons of chicken were supplied in the domestic market on April 12, which means supply outweighs demand.
“The domestic chicken market is now saturated and production will even increase in the runup to the fasting month of Ramadan,” he said before the start of the lunar month in Iran on April 14.
The Agriculture Ministry’s statistics show more than 2.5 million tons of chicken were supplied to the market in the last fiscal year (March 2020-21).
Earlier this month, Deputy Agriculture Minister Morteza Rezaei announced that chicken farmers’ failure to supply 50-day-old broiler chicken at government-mandated prices amounts to hoarding and is punishable by not only a fine, but also denial of access to the ministry’s website for getting subsidized poultry feed.
The government plans to import 50,000 tons of chicken, the director general of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade’s Commercial Affairs Bureau said last month.
“Domestic consumption of chicken stands at between 6,000 and 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 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.
Agriculture Minister Kazem Khavazi has said all chicken farms have been obliged to supply their 45-day-old chicken to slaughter houses.
Earlier, the director general of Exports Department of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration communicated a ban on chicken exports to customs offices throughout the country.
As per Ali Akbar Shademani’s directive, chicken exports have been banned starting March 10 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, “The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade had ratified the ban on chicken exports nearly five months ago in October, yet its officials only communicated the directive to IRICA a few days ago.”
This means, the official told ILNA, the export of the product has been underway, despite 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 has tempted middlemen and smugglers to buy chicken produced with subsidized poultry feed and sell them illegally to regional and neighboring countries,” he added.
Abbas Tabesh, the head of Iran Consumer and Producer Protection Organization said that there is surplus chicken meat production in all Iranian provinces, which means the government has to take extreme measures against middlemen and smugglers causing disruptions in the domestic market.
Official statistics show Iran exported 7,000 tons of chicken worth over $13.28 million during the first quarter of last fiscal year (March 20-June 20).
“The top three 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.
According to Gholamreza Maleknia, an Agriculture Ministry official, Iran produces 2.5 million tons of chicken annually.
Between 120 million and 130 million chickens are produced on a monthly basis.
