December 17, 2007

Pakistan chicken prices plummet ahead of Eidul Azha festival

Chicken prices in Lahore, northeast of Pakistan, declined and are expected to fall further with the Eidul Azha celebration.

Poultry industry experts explained that the drop of prices was due to the decrease in consumption and excess of supply after the Eidul Azha celebration.

Eidul Azha is a four-day long religious festival celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

The prices of chicken meat in Lahore were between INR90 (US$2.29) to INR95 (US$2.42) per kilogramme (kg). A couple of weeks back, chicken was sold at INR105 (US$2.67) to INR115 (US$2.92) per kg.

Industry observers said that the prices are projected to float around INR90 (US$2.29) and INR100 (US$2.54) in the coming days because of Eid and Ashura.

Punjab Raza Khursand, chairman of Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), explained that chicken consumption drops considerably after Eidul Azha. He said that chicken production in the last weeks was also significantly high due to ideal weather conditions for production.

Syed Javaid Hussain Bukhari, Secretary, PPA (Punjab Zone) opined that though people are happy about the drop of chicken prices, a prolonged scenario could harm the trade. He said that farmers invest around INR88 (US$2.24) per kg on a chick for getting its meat.

Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities were testing on suspected bird flu cases after two poultry farm workers died with flu-like symptoms this week. The workers were from northwestern Mansehra district.