October 29, 2010

Indian poultry sector sees brighter outlook

The Indian poultry industry, which experienced a temporary lull for the past three months, is beginning to look up with the onset of the North-East monsoon coupled with Diwali demand.

Wholesale egg prices increased this week with the Namakkal-based National Egg Coordination Committee's zonal committee raising prices by 15 paise to Rs2.65 a piece.

Consumption in Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – major markets for Tamil Nadu's shell egg and broiler trade – have started to pick up with the austere festivities coming to an end.

"The price will rise further with start of winter during which consumption of poultry products increases," an NECC spokesperson said. The previous highest wholesale rate for the shell egg in the state was in June this year at Rs272.57 for 100 eggs when the rate was Rs2.70 a piece.

NECC has increased the rates for layer birds to Rs42/kg while Palladam-based Broiler Coordination Committee has fixed the prices of live chicken at Rs53/kg. Namakkal and Palladam are the benchmark of poultry prices in the country.

"In the northern markets, broiler price has risen by about 20-25% in the past one week due to supply crunch on incessant rains. The price rise is dependent on our spiralling input costs," said BCC chairman Selvaraj.

Prices of soymeal, the key ingredient in the poultry feed, has risen to Rs18,700 a tonne from Rs18,600 a tonne.