The Egyptian Poultry Association (EPA) has halted exports until prices ease in the local market after sharp increases in recent days, driven by higher buying rates ahead of Ramadan, EPA head Mahmoud Al-Anani, told Al Manassa.
Early last week, the EPA discussed opening new export markets in several Arab and African countries with the Agriculture Ministry, but the rise in local prices halted those plans and pushed the government to implement a three-party agreement bringing together the Supply and Agriculture ministries and the Mostaqbal Misr agency to import large quantities of frozen poultry to bring prices down.
The government took similar steps last year, as the Agriculture Ministry allowed imports of broiler and layer chicks and fertilized eggs as production inputs, as well as table eggs, to control prices during last Ramadan. Abdel Aziz El-Sayed, head of the poultry division at the Chambers of Commerce, previously told Al Manassa he considered the move a waste of foreign currency.
Al-Anani said the EPA considers meeting local needs a priority, despite export plans for Arab countries and West Africa that it will resume after poultry prices stabilize locally.
He said local production is sufficient to meet market needs and that resorting to imports now could cause serious harm to the poultry industry, especially given losses borne by small breeders and companies for several months due to low poultry prices.
EPA Vice Chair Tharwat El-Zeiny said Egypt’s poultry exports remain very limited at less than 1% of total production. Exports are necessary to grow the industry and open new markets, he added, saying that the EPA is targeting exports of about 10 to 15% of Egypt’s poultry production.
The EPA’s decision to halt exports to meet higher demand weakens global markets’ trust in the Egyptian market and pushes importing countries toward other options, especially amid intense competition with countries that have large production surpluses, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, El-Zeiny continued.
The recent increases in poultry prices are linked only to seasonal factors, he explained, as demand usually rises sharply ahead of and during Ramadan, while local production is large and sufficient for domestic consumption. Prices have now fallen to 95 Egyptian pounds per kilogram after reaching 120 pounds per kilogram in recent days.
Egypt produces more than 1.5 billion chickens a year, according to Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ministry media adviser Ahmed Ibrahim in press statements last April.
