Poultry rates skyrocket in metropolis

The profiteering of chicken farmers' is on the rise as the price of chicken meat has gone up to Rs 560 per kg in Karachi.

As per details, citizens say the price has become so high that it is no longer possible to buy meat. The price of live chicken was up Rs. 330 per kg after which the vendors increased the price of meat to Rs. 560 per kg.

Meanwhile, vendors have said that they are getting expensive chicken from the suppliers and cannot sell it according to the list of Commissioner Karachi.

The official price of chicken in the market is Rs. 214 per kg but it is being sold at Rs. 520 to 560 per kg.

Earlier, Chairperson Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) in a meeting with the Finance Minister noted that during their investigation of chicken price hike it was found that there is a presence of cartelization in the poultry sector. Finance Minister advised CCP to share the findings with Chief Secretaries of the provinces for strict action against major players of cartelization.

The CCP has acted against cartelization in the poultry industry and completed an enquiry against 19 poultry feed companies on Friday.

The enquiry report revealed that 19 poultry feed companies have been involved in price coordination and their alleged anti-competitive conduct has caused poultry feed price rise in late 2020 thus resulting in sharp increase in the prices of chicken and eggs.

Poultry feed comprises approximately 75-80 percent of the cost of broiler meat and eggs. Therefore, the hike in feed prices has affected the prices of chicken and eggs, which are the most commonly-consumed high protein foods. The CCP’s enquiry revealed that from December 2018 to December 2020, the feed mills colluded to raise the poultry feed prices by Rs 825 per 50kg bag, thus making the feed 32 percent costlier for the poultry farmers.

Moreover, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for September 2020 shows that chicken prices rose by 18.31 percent and eggs by 5.2 percent. The rise in these prices coincided with an increase in feed prices by almost Rs 100 per bag.