January 1, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Broiler raisers may begin the new year with an awful start as liveweight prices of chickens have fallen by more than P20 per kilo after Christmas, the steepest decline ever, an industry group said.
United Broiler Raisers Association (Ubra) chairman Elias Jose Inciong said liveweight prices of broilers have been dropping since Dec. 26 as demand has been anemic, resulting in a supply glut.
“Traditionally after Christmas there is a drop in demand and then supplies are high. But what makes this year different is that this is a record drop (in prices),” Inciong told The STAR.
“This decline reflects that demand is a huge factor. The inventory is equal with last year but demand is poorer,” Inciong added.
Inciong said Filipinos’ demand for chicken meat could have been more tepid this time because of the slowdown in the country’s economic growth coupled with sticky high prices of goods and commodities.
“The purchasing power is not there,” he said.
The average liveweight price of regular-sized broiler (1.5 to 1.69 kilos) as of Dec. 27 collapsed to P110 per kilo from P131.5 per kilo recorded on Dec. 20, based on Ubra weekly price monitoring report.
Inciong said prices continued to decline even after Dec. 27 to as low as P90 per kilo in Central Luzon, which is already below the P110-per-kilo breakeven cost for most broiler raisers.
The drop in liveweight prices comes at a time when broiler raisers reel from higher production costs, particularly elevated day-old-chick prices that have remained above P40 per head throughout last year.
“It is really bloody. The drop is very precipitous. Usually the drop in prices after Christmas is around P5 to P10 per kilo,” Inciong said.
“We will see by end toward of January if it is in accordance with patterns – if there is some recovery,” Inciong said.
Despite the drop in liveweight prices of broilers, the retail price of dressed chicken remain stable at P180 to P250 per kilo in key Metro Manila markets, based on Department of Agriculture reports.
Latest National Meat Inspection Service data showed that the nationwide dressed chicken inventory remained above 55 million kilos with at least 40 million of which being imported stocks. Inventory of locally produced dressed chicken stood at about 15 million kilos.
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