When the coronavirus pandemic began ebbing a few months ago raising hopes for people to return to a normal life, the retail price of a dozen eggs had dropped below Tk 80. Now the price has shot up to Tk 120. Similarly, the price of broiler chicken has increased to Tk 180 per kg from Tk 100, bdnews24.com reports.
As chicken and egg, two of the main sources of protein, have become dearer, people find it hard to adjust their income with the high prices.
Experts believe the sudden price hike of egg and chicken is the ripple effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
While many poultry farms ceased their business failing to bear the brunt of the pandemic, the existing ones are struggling with the increased price of chicks, poultry feed and vaccine. The wide gap between the demand and supply of eggs and chickens has caused the instability in the market, the traders said.
THE MARKET
Broiler chicken is sold at Tk 180-190 per kg in the retail markets of Dhaka, while layer chicken costs Tk 260 to 250 and Sonali chicken Tk 340-350 per kg. The price of a dozen eggs now ranges from Tk 115 to Tk 120, a record in recent times, both sellers and customers said.
Amid the pandemic lockdowns, the price of broiler chicken hovered around Tk 100 per kg, while Sonali chicken was sold at around Tk 200 in retail markets. Layer chicken was sold at Tk 170-180 per kg and a dozen eggs at Tk 80-85.
In the wholesale markets now, broiler chicken is sold at Tk 170-175 per kg, Sonali chicken Tk 320, and layer chicken Tk 220 to 230, said Omar Faruk, owner of Shahinur Hens House in Kaptan Bazar.
The government had imposed lockdown restrictions in a bid to curb the second wave of coronavirus infections in April this year. They ordered a strict lockdown on Jul 23 and lifted it on Aug 11, when the number of virus cases dropped.
Earlier in March last year, the government imposed the first countrywide lockdown after Bangladesh had detected the first cases of Covid-19.
The restrictions were relaxed for a few months when the infection rate dropped. Goods transport vehicles were allowed on the roads in all the lockdowns, but it always had an impact on goods transportation, the traders claimed.
A slump in demand forced them to sell their produce at a lower price which caused the price drop during the lockdowns, said farm owners.
DISCREPANCY OF ACCOUNTS
During the lockdowns, the poultry sector suffered a 50 per cent production drop, according to the Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council, or BPICC.
The government account, on the other hand, shows an opposite picture.
"Only 10 to 15 per cent of the poultry farms that were shut due to the pandemic have resumed their productions. Almost 30 to 35 per cent of farms are still closed. That is why we have a 35 to 40 per cent drop in production," said BPICC President Moshiur Rahman.
Now a fall in production amid rising demand pushed up the prices of chicken and egg, he said.
As many as 6.0 million people are employed in the poultry sector in Bangladesh with 40 per cent women in them, according to the BPICC. A total of 65,000 farmers are working in the sector.
The BPICC had a target to elevate the investment in the sector from Tk 350 billion to Tk 600 billion by 2021. They also aimed for the employment of 10 million people in it.
Bangladesh has a demand of 40 million eggs per day and 20 million chicks per week, according to the BPICC showed. It had set a goal to produce 1.2 million tonnes of chicken and 5.5 million to 6 million tonnes of poultry feed per annum.
The coronavirus pandemic, which has been lingering for over one and a half years, upended all of their targets, said BPICC President Moshiur.
“All our targets were based on customer demand. We could have achieved the targets only if everything had gone back to normal."
The Department of Livestock Services, however, shows a normal flow in chicken and egg production.
At least 270 million chickens were produced in the fiscal 2016-17, the last report of the department showed. The production went up to 296.6 million chickens in 2019-20 and 304 million in 2020-21.
Also, 15 billion eggs were produced in the fiscal 2016-17, 17.36 billion in 2019-20 and 20.57 billion in 2020-21.
The government has set up a target of 22.66 billion egg production in the current fiscal year of 2021-22.
As of September this fiscal year, 5.29 billion eggs were produced, according to the DLS monthly report.
When asked about the discrepancy between the government report and the traders’ accounts, DLS Director General Sheikh Azizur Rahman said he was ‘busy’ and suggested bdnews24.com speak to the concerned official.
Although poultry production was “unaffected” by the lockdowns, Bangladesh saw 25 percent of the farms registered on BPICC shut during the pandemic, said Deputy Director Zinat Sultana.
IT’S HARD TO RECOVER: FARM OWNERS
The price of egg reached rock-bottom at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, said Md Jamal, owner of Sonali Poultry Farm in Gaibandha.
"I just tried to save my capital. At one point, I reduced the number of chickens in my farm," he said. With 10,000 chickens, his farm produces eggs and chicks.
Jamal is now trying to be back in business with Tk 1.3 million in bank loan he took under the government’s stimulus package.
A hike in the price of poultry feed pushed up his expenditure, he said. A bag of poultry feed now costs Tk 2,700, up from Tk 2,000. Chicken price would never drop as long as poultry feed remains expensive, Jamal said.
Poultry prices shot up as the price of feed, chicks, medicine and vaccine skyrocketed, said Saiul Alam Tuhin, owner of Tuhin Poultry in Dinajpur’s Goraghat.
His farm is now selling broiler chicken at Tk 140 to 142 per kg. Last week the price rose to Tk 150 per kg.
Though the price seems “good”, it does not “bring profit” due to higher expenditure, Tuhin claimed.
Highlighting the financial loss in his business during the lockdowns, Tuhin said he tried hard to wade through the situation. “Once you cease to run your business, it’s never easy to turn around.”
People criticise the farmers and traders for high prices of chicken, but they “never understand the financial loss the farm owners faced during the lockdowns”, said Md Moyanal Mollah, owner of Sirajganj’s Apan Poultry.
“Last year we sold Sonali chicken at Tk 140 to 150 per kg, but the production cost was Tk 190 per kg. We faced a huge financial loss.”
The circumstances forced many farmers to close their business, he said. “We, who survived, cannot supply chicks to small farmers due to insufficient capital. Now they can’t run their farms. Many small farms, therefore, have closed for good.”
A one-day old chick now costs Tk 66, up from about Tk 30, Moynal said. The poultry industry would not be able to go back to its previous state until the chicks and poultry feed price drops, he believes.
Fitan Shah Poultry in Chattogram’s Anowara supplies chicken and eggs from nearly a thousand small local farms.
Most of the farms have stopped production amid the pandemic, causing a loss to Fitan Shah Poultry as well, said Managing Director Haradhan Debnath.
“Some of the farms resumed production over the past few months. So now we have restarted our business with new investment.”
The poultry sector may recover provided the prices of feed, chicks and medicine are reduced and farm owners who shut down their farms get easy loans, said the farmers.
A “syndicate” of big companies producing poultry and feed has caused the instability in the market, believes Omar Faruk, owner of Shahinur Hens House.
Poultry feed producers, however, blamed the international market for the price hike.
The poultry feed raw material price increased 34 per cent on an average over the past few months, said Ehtesham B Shajahan, president of Feed Association Bangladesh.
“Corn is the main ingredient in making poultry feed. Its price rose to Tk 32 per kg from Tk 19. Now it came down to Tk 28 per kg. Raw material became pricier and shipping costs also increased.”
Local feed makers cannot help if the price goes up in the international market, he said.
“Even then we tried not to make the feed price exorbitant considering our business and that of the farmers. Over the past few months, poultry feed price increased 7.0 to 8.0 per cent.”
Ehtesham said he had no idea when the situation will become tolerable.
“Some reports show that there has been a good harvest of corn, soymeal and other ingredients needed for poultry feed in some parts of America. It will take around three months to import those raw materials. But some other reports show no chance of immediate price reduction,” he said.
