Malaysia agriculture minister says country now has oversupply of chicken, ready to export again

KUALA LUMPUR — After Malaysia’s chicken shortage a few months back, the chicken industry has stabilised thanks to several steps taken by the government, said the country’s agriculture and food industries minister Ronald Kiandee.

The Beluran Member of Parliament said that Malaysia’s move to abolish approved permits (APs) and allowing the import of chickens from other countries, as well as disallowing the export of chicken overseas has contributed to the recovery of the industry.

“There was a slight disruption in the supply of chicken in the past few months. That is why the government has taken a number of measures to stabilise the state of our country’s chickens.

“Among the steps we have taken are getting rid of APs and allowing the import from overseas, at the same time stop exporting chicken overseas. These steps taken by the government can be seen as a success and have stabilised the chicken industry in Malaysia,” he said in Parliament here.

The Malaysian government had announced in May that it would halt the exports of some 3.6 million chickens a month from June 1 in a bid to address the surging prices and shortage of chickens in the country.

The move impacted countries such as Singapore, which imports about one-third of its chicken supply from Malaysia. Chicken is also the most widely consumed meat in the Republic, with a per capita consumption of 36kg in 2020.

Mr Ronald said that the Malaysian chicken industry has been recovering so well that now Malaysia has an oversupply of chicken, causing the price of chicken locally to plummet lower than the ceiling price of chicken set by the government.

“In fact, at this point, we are able to produce 106 per cent of our needs. That means we have the capacity to export chicken from our country to other countries.

“We currently have an oversupply of chicken, which has now caused the prices of chicken in the market to be lower than that of the ceiling price,” he said.

Previously, Putrajaya agreed on implementing several short-term measures, including setting up a stockpile of chicken, to address issues of food supply shortage and price hikes.

Mr Ronald said the establishment of the chicken stockpile would be done immediately through the Farmers Organisation Board.

Malaysia’s prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob then announced the government’s decision to abolish APs for food products immediately to ensure that the country has an adequate food supply.

Putrajaya also set a ceiling price for the sale of chicken for the local market, to which initially the price of chicken and eggs in Peninsular Malaysia is RM8.90/kg for Standard Round Chicken and RM9.90/kg for Super Round Chicken, while the egg is priced at; Grade A Chicken Eggs 43 sen each, Chicken Egg Grade B 41 sen each and Grade C Chicken Eggs 39 sen each.

On July 1, it was adjusted to RM9.40/kg, while the price of grade A chicken eggs at 45 sen each, grade B (43 sen) and grade C (41 sen) for two months. MALAY MAIL