Home ›› 25 Mar 2023 ›› Front
Big poultry companies of the country ‘looted’ at least Tk 936 crore in the last 52 days by manipulating the prices of full-grown chickens and chicks, claimed the Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA).
A lack of monitoring by the authorities created the opportunity for the corporate organisations to rip off the huge amount of money, said a BPA press statement signed by its president Suman Howladar on Thursday.
According to the press statement, while the production cost of broiler chicken is now Tk 160 to 165 per kg for marginal farmers, it is only Tk 130-140 for corporate firms.
However, these companies are selling chickens at the wholesale level for a maximum of Tk 230, making at least Tk 60 profit per kg.
BPA said the daily demand for broiler chicken is 3,500 tonnes in the country. The corporate organisations, including their contract farms, are supplying 2,000 tons of chicken to the market every day. So, they made an extra profit of Tk 12 crore per day.
Overall, the companies made a profit of Tk 624 crore through the sale of chicken in 52 days from January 31 to March 23 while they made a profit of Tk 312 crore through selling one-day aged chicks.
The organisation claims that 20 lakh chicks are produced by companies in the country every day. The production cost of each chick is now at Tk 28-30, which was only Tk 10-15 in the first week of January this year.
Those chicks are supposed to be sold at Tk 620-68 each, but now they are being sold at Tk 80-85. Hence, the companies are making an additional profit of Tk 30 per chick, according to BPA.
The Poultry Association said the abnormal price of chicks and feed has forced marginal farmers to close their farms and shut down production. Corporate organisations are taking advantage of the opportunity to increase the prices.
However, when the marginal farmer goes into production, the corporate companies are reducing the price in the market which leaves the farmers counting losses.
According to Poultry Association members, poultry feed and chicks are produced 100 per cent by the corporate companies. In addition, these companies also partially produce eggs and chickens, and also have contract farms.
By this way, the companies are taking control of broiler chicken market. Unless it is stopped, it is not possible to reduce the volatility in the poultry sector, added the Poultry Association members.
Meanwhile, four major chicken producers on Thursday announced that they will sell broiler chicken for Tk 190-195 a kg at the gates of their farms during Ramadan.
The announcement came after the Directorate of National Consumers Right Protection (DNCRP) summoned representatives of the firms to explain why the prices of broiler chicken were “unreasonably high”.
The four companies- Kazi Farms Ltd, CP Bangladesh, Aftab Bahumukhi Farms Ltd, and Paragon Poultry and Hatchery Ltd- have been selling broiler chicken at Tk 220 to Tk 230 a kg at the gates of their farms over the last two weeks.
The price of broiler chicken has been hovering between Tk 280-200 in Dhaka’s kitchen market over the last few days.
AHM Shafiquzzaman, director general of DNCRP, said retail prices of broiler chicken will fall by Tk 35-40 soon.
According to a DNCRP report, the price of a kg of broiler chicken should not exceed Tk 200 at retail, because the production cost at large farms is Tk 135-140 even after the increase in the prices of feed. For small farms, the production cost is Tk 150-160, it added.
Meanwhile, at a recent views-exchange discussion at the office of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), its president Jasim Uddin said the price of broiler chicken increased by Tk 100 in a month because the poultry industry people were taking advantage of the customers.
He said the government banned the import of broiler chicken, beef, and eggs to protect the local industry. If the prices do not come down, the FBCCI will request the commerce ministry to allow the import of chicken and beef to keep the prices under control.
At present, a kg of beef is sold for Tk 750-800.
