SUPERMARKET SUPPLY OF MALAYSIA CHICKEN NOT AT PRE-BAN LEVELS
Chicken imports from Malaysia have not resumed to pre-ban levels across the industry at supermarket chains either.
At NTUC FairPrice, a spokesperson told CNA that the company has ramped up supplies from other markets, including Indonesia, Thailand and Brazil, to close the gap.
The rise in chicken prices can be attributed to various factors such as the “higher cost of chicken feed, logistics, manpower shortages and volatile market conditions”.
The spokesperson added that while Malaysia chicken prices have risen, Brazil and Thailand prices remained stable.
There is also steady growth in customer demand for Indonesia chicken, FairPrice said.
The sales volume of chicken at Sheng Siong is “lower than before”, “in large part because the supply has yet to fully resume”, its spokesperson said.
But the supermarket has not yet seen a “significant impact” on demand, even though prices for fresh chicken have risen from the period before Malaysia’s ban to after the partial lifting of the ban.
The “inverse relationship between demand and price generally holds” across other meat products, the company said.
“More time may be needed to really discern if there has been a change in the consumers’ preference for chicken due to the price adjustments,” it added.
HIGH COST OF REARING CHICKENS
Poultry importers suggested that the rising prices were the result of the higher cost of rearing chickens.
“If the cost of chicken feed drops, then ultimately the cost of chicken will drastically reduce. If the feed is expensive, poultry cost will be on the high side,” said Mr James Sim, chief marketing officer for chicken importer Kee Song Food.
“Once chicken feed costs increase, farmers tend to rear less chicken. Then (it’s an issue of) demand and supply. If (demand is) not met, ultimately the cost of chicken will go up.”
Mr Sim noted that “consumption of chicken has reduced” over the recent Chinese New Year period, probably because customers have “other choices” of meat, such as fish, pork, beef or mutton.
“Chicken used to be the cheapest protein among the rest of the meat. The demand is still there, but not as much as before,” he said.
Mr Ma Chin Chew, CEO of Hup Heng Poultry Industries, said the partial resumption in supply from Malaysia is “not enough to fulfil demand for the market”.
“With the current COVID-19 issue and raw material price issue, I don’t think suppliers will reduce the price. Because of all the uncertainty, and the permit (to export chicken) is based on a monthly basis, no farmer will want to raise more chicken,” he said.
Mr Ma added that it is inevitable for the effects of inflation to trickle down to the consumer, after retailers factor in the price hike.
