March 5, 2007

Poultry prices could rise 40 percent in the next decade

Paul-Heinz Wesjohann, owner of leading German poultry producer the PHW Group, said poultry prices could rise as much as 40 percent over the next decade.

International grain shortage, heightened competition between the bioenergy and food industry due to feedgrains diverted to biofuel would be the two main causes.

Wesjohann said, new energy sources would increasingly compete with the food industry for feed grains. Already, grain prices have seen a 50-percent increase, he emphasized. The grain shortage is so acute in Germany it is now forced to import corn from Hungary, he noted.