Indian Poultry Products Prices Increase On Falling Production - INDIA - Prices of live chicken and layer eggs have increased in the past week following a fall in production and lower stock levels.

The tight supply and the festival/holiday demand have encouraged the poultry farms to raise the farm-gate price of table eggs this week, while the wholesale price of live birds has been retained at last week's level.

With the price trend for poultry products anticipated to go up in the next few weeks, the Namakkal-based zonal committee of the National Egg Coordination Committee (NECC) has raised the weekly wholesale rate for table eggs by 22 per cent to Rs 1.10 a piece as against last week's rate of Rs 1.05.

The Broiler Coordination Committee (BCC) at Palladam has decided to retain the last week's price tag of Rs 36 a kg for this week too amidst perceived short supply of chicken in the market. It is also hopeful of a further upward price movement over the next eight weeks in view of the summer holidays and the ensuing general elections when chicken consumption would pick up further momentum. The current week's price is up by 33 per cent compared to the last month end price of Rs 27 a kg.

The broiler producers have come a long way from the after-shocks of `avian flu', which nearly shattered the market two months ago. The price of live birds slid to Rs 18/19 a kg and remained so at that level for about eight weeks.

The early culling of parent stocks by broiler producers effected in February has led to some 20 per cent drop in the prices of commercial broilers. No arrival of birds from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka production centres into the Tamil Nadu markets too helped to stablilise prices in the last two weeks, according to broiler trade sources.

The lower feed in-take by the layer birds in view of the heat conditions and the consequent drop in egg production are being attributed to the recovery in the prices of table eggs. Right now the drop in production is said to be around 10 per cent.

Also, the steady volumes built in table egg exports from the Namakkal zone have also aided price recovery this week. Exports remained brisk in the past three months.

The egg shipment, which stood at 120 containers (containing 4.75 lakh eggs each) in January, went up to 183 containers in February and 120 in March , the market sources said.

Source: eFeedLink - 13th April 2004