Malaysia to implement price curbs to guarantee affordable chickens for Lunar New Year: ‘more than enough to go around’

Malaysia’s food ministry said it will implement a price control scheme during the holiday period
Subsidies for poultry farmers were discontinued on November 1 last year, and since then, the price of chicken has been capped

Malaysia

The Star

Published: 12:34pm, 15 Jan 2024

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More than enough affordably priced chickens will be available during the Lunar New Year, says Malaysia’s Agriculture and Food Security Ministry secretary general Lokman Hakim Ali.

He said government intervention would ensure prices do not fluctuate too much.

“Our chickens come from various sources, and with imports from Thailand, the supply is expected to be more than enough to go around for the Lunar New Year period,” he added.

Lokman pointed out that although there were no price controls on chicken last Christmas, it was sold to consumers below the retail ceiling price of 9.40 ringgit per kg (US$2.00).

He added that chicken parts and frozen chicken were also sold below the retail ceiling price at all outlets.

“For Lunar New Year, a festive season price control scheme will be implemented through the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry,” he said.

Lokman said the relevant ministries would continue to collaborate to maintain a stable chicken supply and would also monitor reported price manipulation activities.

Subsidies for poultry farmers were discontinued on November 1 last year, and since then, the price of chicken has been capped at RM9.40 per kg.

A woman shops at a wet market in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Photo: Reuters

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Armizan Mohd Ali said his ministry would continue to carry out checks at all retail premises.

He said since chicken prices were floated, the ministry had conducted checks at 1,197 premises.

Overall, he said compliance by retailers had been good, and the ministry had issued notices to only six sellers.

“We will continue to ensure that there is no profiteering or cartel activities such as pacts on prices, production or marketing,” added Armizan.

The ministry’s Enforcement Division director general Azman Adam said, although there had been no implementation of a maximum price for festive seasons since the price was floated, inspections on chicken prices continued.

Poultry farmers are well-prepared for this festive period as we have sufficient supply. Prices will be dictated by demand and supply

Azman Adam, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry’s enforcement director

“This was to ensure prices did not increase and sellers did not profit. We monitored daily; there was no pause. The public can report to us if chicken prices exceed the ceiling price of RM9.40,” said Azman.

Federation of Livestock Farmers’ Associations of Malaysia president Tan Chee Hee said about two million chickens were consumed daily.

“For Lunar New Year, this will increase by only 1.5 to two times of that – it’s not much.

“Poultry farmers are well-prepared for this festive period as we have sufficient supply. Prices will be dictated by demand and supply,” he said when contacted.

From 2022 until August 2023, the country imported chickens from 20 different countries, with the largest imports from Thailand, China and Brazil.

To ensure prices did not fluctuate, the government had also implemented other measures such as abolishing the Approved Permit (AP) requirement for whole chicken and chicken parts on May 18, 2022, allowing the import of Day-Old Chick (DOC) or fertile eggs from New Zealand and Australia to ensure adequate replacement stock for hens, and permitting the importation of chicken eggs from a new source country, namely Thailand.

Malaysians eat about 70.43 million chickens per month, or 845.16 million birds annually.

This story was originally published by The Star

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