Financial Express reports that the National Egg Co-ordination Committee (NECC) has repeated its appeal to the government to put an immediate ban on forward trading in maize and soyabean meal. This follows the latest price hike for maize to a record INR1040 per 100kg. NECC is also calling for all exports to be channeled through a designated government agency as well as a ban on exports by private traders.

NECC maintains that over the past two years, there have been unprecedented increases in the prices of maize and soya, which are the basic ingredients of poultry feed. It alleges that these are the result of forward trading, speculation and hoarding by traders and multi-national companies, and that the export volume of these commodities has also risen. The price of maize increased from Indian rupees (INR) 500-525 per 100kg in 2006 to INR900-1,000. Over the same period, the soya price has risen from INR7,000-8,000 per ton to INR21,000 now.

In the Financial Express report, NECC commented that this is the worst crisis facing the industry in thirty years. In 2006 and January 2008, the industry suffered from bird flu but that lasted only a few weeks, and the industry recovered quickly with government help. However, the present crisis is far more serious and has already lasted two years.