Chicken, egg traders defy govt-fixed prices

Eggs and broiler chickens -- a key source of protein for the poor -- are not being sold anywhere in Dhaka at rates set by the government on Sunday this week.

Poultry entrepreneurs say the latest price determination to cool off the local market skipped the demand supply mismatch and ignored the soaring costs of animal feed.

For chicken, the gap between the government-set prices and retail rates is roughly Tk 10 per kg, while it is Tk 3 for each egg.

After apparently failing to calm the rates of poultry products, the authorities now blame the businessmen and traders for price spiral. They say market monitoring will be intensified and unscrupulous traders will be fined.

In the meanwhile, traders fear price capping without assessing the supply demand gap and cooling off the poultry feed prices would add to market volatility.

In previous incidents, price capping to rein in unbridled kitchen items failed in almost every case. Despite failure to enforce the price caps on some daily essentials in September 2023, the government in March this year fixed the prices of 29 commodities from producer to consumer level, but to no avail.

"It's not feasible to control the market by simply fixing prices for such poultry products," said Mohammad Firoz, a poultry retailer of Duaripara area at Mirpur in the capital.

He was selling broiler chickens at Tk 190 per kg and Sonali chicken at Tk 260 per kg yesterday, while the government fixed rates are Tk 179.59 per kg and Tk 269.64 per kg, respectively.

For the market to stabilise, the supply simply needs to be increased, said the trader.

Muzahidul Islam, an egg retailer in the same area, said he sold eggs at Tk 165 per dozen yesterday, which puts the price at Tk 13.75 per egg, well above the government-fixed Tk 11.87 per egg.

The recent flooding in the 13 eastern and southeastern regions ravaged thousands of poultry farms and affected the supply chain seriously, according to Khandaker Monir Ahamed, senior vice-president of the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association.

He said the flood-caused supply chain gap compels the poultry price fixing to falter.

Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman, a retailer at Karwan Bazar, one of the largest kitchen markets in the capital, sold broiler chicken at Tk 180-185 per kg and Sonali chicken at Tk 250 per kg yesterday.

He said the price of Sonali chicken had risen by Tk 10 per kg from the previous day.

Another retailer, Sheikh Russel of the same market bought eggs at Tk 12.60 per piece from the wholesaler and sold them at Tk 13.33 per piece at retail.

"How can we sell at the government-fixed price?" Russel questioned, adding that proper monitoring from production to wholesale markets is key to implementing any price capping.

Kazi Farms Group, one of the 'big five' corporate poultry farms of the country, said it is complying with the government rate for both eggs and chickens.     

"The retail price (of chicken) has gone up, indicating that demand is high," Kazi said in an statement. " 

Similarly, According to Kazi, the retail price of eggs is high because there is a shortage. Production is lower than demand.

The corporate house noted flood-led poultry losses for the supply crunch and subsequent price spiral.

In the meanwhile, Sumon Howlader, president of the Bangladesh Poultry Association, a platform of the marginal farmers, said fixing the price of eggs and chickens without fixing the price of feed and day-old chicks will add to market volatility.

However, claiming the government-fixed prices were reasonable, Reajul Huq, director general of the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), said it was determined after consultations with stakeholders, including the Poultry Industries Association, Feed Industries Association, Breeders Association of Bangladesh and World Poultry Science Association. 

Besides, Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council, Bangladesh Poultry Khamar Rakkha Jatiya Parishad, Animal Health Companies Association and Agro Feed Ingredients Importers and Trading Association were consulted. 

Huq dismissed claims that the price instability was due to a gap between production and demand, as he said stakeholders had confirmed there was no such gap.

Kazi Mohammad Mozammel Hoque, director general of the Directorate of National Consumers' Rights Protection, said their monitoring teams are actively working across the country to implement government-fixed prices.

He said businesses failing to comply with the rates are being fined.

Md Aftabuzzaman, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Poultry Science at the Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, said the reason for the low production cost of Sonali chicken is that it is still reared in the semi-intensive system.

He said feed costs account for 70 percent of what a chicken costs until it reaches the buyer stage. If the supply-demand was right, then the sales would be at the price fixed by the government.

"But that is not happening."

Aftabuzzaman said this means that the livestock services department is still not able to fully control the private stakeholders.