October 12,  2020

Philippines' farm-gate broiler prices rise following reduced production

The average farm-gate prices of broilers in the Philippines have increased beyond a ₱85-per-kilogramme (US$1.75) level after local raisers cut output, the United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) said.

According to Ubra, farm-gate prices of broilers recovered for the second consecutive week. The industry has been grappling with a supply glut caused by high stocks of local and imported poultry coupled with low demand.

Latest Ubra price survey as of October 9 showed that the average farm-gate price of regular-sized broilers (1.5 kilogrammes to 1.69 kilogrammes) was at ₱87.33/kg (US$1.80), which was 17.5% higher than last week's ₱74.33/kg (US$1.53).

Ubra data also showed that regular-sized broilers in Tarlac were sold at ₱89/kg (US$1.84) while those in Bulacan and Batangas were sold at ₱88/kg (US$1.82) and ₱85/kg (US$1.75), respectively.

The average farm-gate price of off-sized broilers rose by 17.88% to ₱85.67/kg (US$1.77) while prime-sized broilers were sold at an average of ₱88.33/kg (US$1.82) - ₱14.16 (US$0.29) higher than last week's prices, Ubra data showed.

Ubra president Elias Jose Inciong told the BusinessMirror the price recovery could be attributed to the reduction in local output.

"The industry has involuntarily followed the desires of DA-BAI (Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry) to self-regulate.  We have reduced production because of losses in the face of cheap imports," he said.

Inciong added that local broiler output has been slashed by 30% to 40% to achieve a "supply-demand equilibrium where producers can earn some income and not suffer losses."

"We lost the HRI (hotel, restaurant and institutional) market during the lockdown which is 30%. Assume that 10% is back so [we're still mising] 20% for HRI," he said.

"Household demand has also contracted because of income loss as a result of the COVID-19 quarantines."

Local chicken meat output this year is projected to decline by almost 14% to 1.25 million tonnes from last year's record-high 1.45 tonnes due to anticipated production cuts by raisers, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

The USDA expects an output to recover next year as total chicken meat production may rise by 10% to 1.375 tonnes.

- BusinessMirror