A price war may be brewing in the poultry industry which could bring about job cuts if prices are not regulated by Government, reports Trinidad & Tobago Express.

Rasheed Karim, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Pluck Shop Association said on 11 January: "Plans by Nutrimix to reduce the price of live chicken to $2.49 per pound will bring about a loss of 50 per cent at the hands of the farmers."

The company placed newspaper advertisements on the same day promoting the price reduction.

Mr Karim said: "It costs $5 per pound to produce one chicken, and the cost of transportation is 25 cents. Farmers would suffer and the consumers will have to pay additional costs."

He added that, in this case, farmers would have to bear the losses.

But Ronnie Mohammed, managing director of Nutrimix said a price reduction would not affect farmers because they are protected by contracts.

He said the decision by the company to reduce the price of live chicken had to do "with market forces prevailing at this time".

He added that the ones who would be affected will be the producers because they would be selling below cost price.

Trinidad & Tobago Express reports Mr Mohammed saying: "Our decision to reduce the price will benefit the consumers, and it is not based solely on what obtains today in the market but on trends based on average sales per year.". He said the pluck shops will not be affected because "They buy and sell, plus charge a gut fee".

Of the four major chicken producers, Nutrimix is the only company that has announced a price reduction on live chicken.