November 6, 2012
 

Philippine chicken inventory up 80% in October

Inventory of chicken in various cold-storage sites in the Philippines went up by 80 percent on- year to 9 million kilograms in October.

According to the the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra), part of this inventory may include smuggled chicken.

Traditionally, when this period of the year rolls around, the chicken inventory is usually at 4 or 5 million kilograms, says Ubra director Gregorio San Diego. However, the inventory reachedH 9 million kilos in October, he said.

San Diego also said it's becoming more challenging to collect the data they need particularly since some of the cold storage houses are not accredited by the government.

With the jump in inventory and expectations of higher domestic production for the rest of 2012, San Diego said there is no need for the government to allow the special importation of chicken during the holidays.

The Philippine government allows the special importation of chicken during the holidays when it deems that there is a lack of supply. Chicken meat is a preferred raw ingredient for making special dishes for holiday celebrations in the Philippines.

For 2012, San Diego estimated chicken output at around 700 million heads, higher than the 600 million heads in 2011.

He noted that poultry raisers were encouraged to increase their output during the early part of 2012, which would explain the hike in their production for the year.

Meanwhile, Ubra appealed to the government to look into reports that imported chicken which were slaughtered in 2011 are being exported to the Philippines and are currently sold in wet markets.

Effectively, these chickens are already expired and are affected by salmonella which could be dangerous to consume, said San Diego.

As of press time, officials of the Department of Agriculture could not be reached for comment.