July 12, 2010

Broiler production in Philippines expected to grow by 20%

Broiler production in the Philippines could increase by 15%-20% with continuous import of grandparent and parent day-old chick (DOC) breeders, according to the Philippine Association of Broiler Integrators (Pabi).

"The continuous entry of grandparent and parent DOC breeders will ensure the increase in broiler production for the entire year," said Rita Imelda B. Palabyab, president of Pabi. Palabyab, however, did not give estimates as to the number of grandparent and parent DOC breeders that have already been imported by the industry.

The Pabi chief, who is also vice president and general manager of the poultry division of San Miguel Foods Inc., noted that there is a glut in the supply of dressed chicken in the market today.

"If you talk to the commercial sector today, commercial raisers will tell you that they are losing money. Typically, June is a weak month, so there are lots of chicken in the market today," said Palabyab.

The Pabi official expects farm-gate prices to improve in two weeks. Earlier reports placed farm-gate prices at around PHP60 (US$1.3) per kg.

Earlier, the United Broiler Raisers Association had projected that the industry could grow broiler production by 20% to around 630 million heads.

Figures from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that dressed chicken production in the Philippines grew by almost 5% to 765,589 tonnes last year.

Despite this, the USDA noted that the Philippines imported a total of 61,444 tonnes of chicken meat valued at US$35.14 million last year. In terms of volume, this is higher by 40.42% over the level of importation in 2008.

BAS noted that poultry production for 2009 accounted for 14.33% of total agricultural output. The poultry subsector grossed PHP144.3 billion (US$3.1 billion) at current prices in 2009. BAS said this is almost 10% higher than the previous year's record.