December 9, 2022

 

Malaysian poultry breeders deny egg shortage in the country

Poultry breeders from Selangor state, Malaysia, have denied there is an egg supply shortage in the country, adding that eggs are still shipped to neighbouring nations, New Straits Times reported.

 

Idrus Zainal Abidin, chairman of the Selangor Poultry Breeders Association, said they want to meet with Mohamad Sabu, Malaysia's Agriculture and Food Security Minister, to discuss the egg issue.

 

Idrus said the minister may not have been briefed properly on the matter.

 

He also said importing eggs from overseas will affect local breeders.

 

Idrus said local breeders have the capacity to meet domestic chicken and egg demand, but the current ceiling price and subsidies in the country are a burden.

 

He said the government should remove the ceiling price and subsidy so there is healthy competition to meet local demand.

 

He added that poultry farmers were not hoarding chicken and egg supplies.

 

Datuk Ameer Ali Mydin, managing director of major Malaysian supermarket chain Mydin, said there is still an issue of insufficient egg supply.

 

He said they only receive 20 to 30% of our egg supply daily, so they still struggle to have eggs on their supermarket shelves.

 

Ameer said the government should resolve the issue before the Christmas holidays because it not only affects retailers, but also bakeries and restaurants.

 

Minister Mohamad Sabu said the government is mulling a short-term plan to import eggs from various sources overseas to cope with an egg shortage in Malaysia.

 

-      New Straits Times