Indonesia Poultry & Egg Market Report - INDONESIA - In this report on Indonesia's Poultry & Egg Market, eFeedLink say that Broiler prices fall still further and that continued demand raises egg prices again, in the week ended Oct 8.

Market analysis

The fasting month of Ramadhan kicked off quietly in Indonesia on Oct 5 following the steep fuel price hike and a second bomb attack in Bali.

The Indonesian government had announced new fuel prices on Oct 1-gasoline increased from Rp 2,400 to Rp 4,500, diesel fuel from Rp 2,100 to Rp 4,300 and kerosene from Rp 700 to Rp 2,000-afterwhich the price of commodities in the market increased by about 20 percent on average.

Usually, traders would be able to increase prices slightly prior to the fasting month, Idul Fitri and New Year holidays. However, unlike previous years where buying increased days before the fasting month, the markets were unusually quiet this year.

Consumers had decided not to purchase as much this time due to the recent fuel price hike. With this demand drop, broiler prices also fell concurrently.

Broiler

In Jakarta on Oct 8, farm-gate live broilers were traded at Rp 6,100/kg, a sharp fall from Rp 7,300/kg the previous week.

In Medan (north Sumatra), broiler prices closed Rp 500 lower to Rp 5,000/kg on Oct 7, from Rp 5,500 the previous week. Padang (west Sumatra) and Palembang (south Sumatra) also saw decreases in broiler prices from Rp 8,000/kg and Rp 8,800/kg to Rp 7,000/kg and Rp 8,000/kg respectively.

Some broiler traders said that the weakened demand was caused by a resulting price increase of basic commodities from the fuel price hike. As most Indonesian consumers consider poultry meat expensive, they avoid this commodity whenever purchasing power is weakened.

Egg

In the meantime, egg prices continued rising during the week ending Oct 8.

In some producing areas like Blitar (east Java) and Palembang (south Sumatra), eggs were traded at even higher prices, from Rp 7,000/kg and Rp 7,100/kg on Sep 30 to Rp 7,300 and Rp 7,400 on Oct 7 respectively.

In Jakarta, egg prices also closed higher at Rp 8,200/kg on Oct 8 from Rp 7,800/kg the previous week.

Some players pointed out that despite rising prices following the fuel price hike, egg demand had remained strong.

Source: eFeedLink - 10th October 2005