Brazilian chicken succeeds in reducing the prices of domestic poultry.. Will it harm Egyptian production?

CAIRO

- Consumers noticed a slight decrease in chicken prices recently, after the price of a kilo of local chicken doubled in less than a year, making refraining from buying it the safest way to avoid further draining the dilapidated budgets of families.

White meat has become a haven for many who resort to it as an alternative to red meat, whose prices have jumped to significant levels recently.

According to local media, a "sovereign authority" intervened to import about 50,000 tons of frozen Brazilian chicken, in the face of the continuous rise in prices, while the Egyptians consume about 180,000 tons of chicken annually.

Brazil is one of the largest poultry producers in the world, and it is exported to a number of Arab countries, including Egypt, which was on the verge of self-sufficiency in poultry years ago. Import exacerbated by the scarcity of the dollar.

Traders came at the top of the list of those accused of exploiting the crisis to double their profits, while they defended themselves by claiming that feed and production requirements were behind the huge rise in chicken prices.

One kilogram of Brazilian chicken is sold for about 65 pounds (about two dollars), while one kilogram of local chicken is sold for about 80 pounds (about $3).

Does this mean that the match between Brazilian and local chicken in the Egyptian market will end in a landslide victory for the Brazilian?

Commentators wonder, and some of them believe that the local product cannot compete in price with the importer, as local poultry is threatened with death, and the local chicken will not last long in this match, in light of the demand of more consumers on the Brazilian alternative, driven by the quest to save in family budgets, even at the expense of the popular taste that She is used to fresh local meat.

"Between Brazilian and Local"

A struggle erupted between fans of Brazilian and local chicken on social media platforms, and fans of frozen Brazilian chicken say that it is slaughtered according to Islamic law, and that it tastes delicious, and is even better than what is sold in chicken stores, which can be carriers of germs that are not found in frozen chicken.

On the other hand, there are accusations that the Brazilian chicken is about to expire, that poisoned industrial materials are used to preserve it, and that it is electrocuted, which means that it does not comply with Islamic slaughter requirements.

A tour of Al-Jazeera Net in the local markets revealed a discrepancy in the prices of local poultry, starting in areas of about 70 pounds per kilogram ($2.3), up to about 90 pounds ($3) for some sellers of fresh chicken.

As for the frozen, the most common importer is the Brazilian, and the price of a chicken weighing 1.3 kilograms reaches about 90 pounds, which means that one kilogram is less than that price by about a third.

The other note is that the chicken package has a production date that dates back to a little less than a year (May 2022) and the expiration date is 12 months, which means that the expiration date will soon be within two months.

The interesting thing is that sellers in major stores confirmed to Al-Jazeera Net that the Brazilian type that is causing a stir has been sold to them for months, which refutes - in the opinion of Ibrahim Naim, who is the owner of a shop selling frozen vegetables and meat - that the import aims to hit the national industry, and that dollars were quickly provided for this purpose. .

The arrival of Brazilian chicken in the market raised fears of hitting the local industry (social networking sites)

Accurate follow-up

In turn, the head of the Poultry Division in the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, Abdel Aziz Al-Sayed, confirms in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net that imported chicken fills only 40% of the market's needs, which is estimated at 72 thousand tons out of a total domestic consumption of 180 thousand tons, explaining that with the import of 50 thousand tons The deficit continues at 22 thousand tons.

What is required - according to the master - is that the local product move to fill the remaining gap, but this move is beset by a number of obstacles, as the actual cost of the product is 59 pounds on the basis that the price of the chick is 28 pounds and the fodder is 22 pounds, and when the sale takes place at a price of 65 pounds, we have 6 pounds of gain. Per kilo (one dollar equals 31 pounds).

The speaker points out that no one is satisfied with the loss of the product again or the deterioration of the industry. Rather, everyone hopes that the production system will improve, but the problem lies in the fears associated with the decrease in imported prices from the cost of local production.

He continued, "But we were surprised that the low price of the chick led to an increase in the prices of the final poultry product, which means that there is an imbalance that requires moderation of the system and the recovery of those who left it. We do not want long-term import except within many mechanisms that control the market that must take into account reality."

The spokesman referred to one of the surprising aspects in the course of poultry production, pointing out that what is released from production inputs reaches the producer at exaggerated prices, despite their reduction by government interventions.

What is required - according to Al-Sayed - is a careful follow-up of the input paths since their exit from the ports at the real price to control the market, in an effort to find a fair price for the inputs, which will only be done through a real stock exchange.

There is a poultry stock exchange, but it has not been activated since 2011. Al-Sayed calls for the formation of a board of directors that includes representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture and technicians to calculate the fair price based on production inputs, supplies and requirements, then the price is reviewed periodically, and he also calls for an increase in the crops needed for the feed industry.

The Egyptian chicken sells for about 80 pounds per kilogram (Reuters)

Features of the crisis and its solutions

For his part, parliamentarian Ayman Mohseb asked the government to clarify its plan to revive the poultry industry in Egypt, pointing out that success in resolving the crisis temporarily would be through imports that reduced exaggerated prices, but imports should not be a permanent solution.

In his statement, the deputy pointed out that Egypt achieved self-sufficiency in poultry for a long time until the recent fodder crisis worsened due to local and global political and economic conditions that caused heavy losses to small breeders and pushed them out of the market, in addition to losing a huge number of chicks due to the lack of fattening fodder.

According to official data, the volume of poultry production is 1.4 billion birds, which produce about 13 billion eggs sufficient for local needs, and the volume of investment in poultry reaches more than 90 billion pounds (about 3 billion dollars), and it accommodates more than 2.5 million workers.

The deputy called for the necessity of releasing larger quantities of fodder, supporting small breeders, providing them with material and technical support, and studying introducing mechanisms and incentives to encourage an increase in local production again, while activating the strategy of settling crops that enter the feed industry, and supporting their manufacture locally to reduce the import bill that burdens The state budget.

For his part, Salam Reda - a journalist specializing in animal and poultry production affairs - confirmed the success of the government's plan to curb prices by subtracting quantities from the importer, stressing - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - the need to establish a national industry, the first from import, which exempts the government from managing currencies. hard.

Reda believes that all the requirements and inputs for production in the poultry industry are available, and the problem lies only in the feed, as the price equilibrium will only come through the availability of the requirements and the availability of production.

He points out that the main obstacle in the production process lies in the imported fodder, while the rest of its components are available, calling for providing the raw materials for months, so that the product feels safe and its results appear in price stability.

Reda pointed out that producers need about 900,000 tons of fodder per month, and about two million and 300,000 tons have been released since last October, which means half of what is required.

It is expected that the recovery phase of the local industry will take months, stressing that there is a significant improvement in the local production sector with regard to grandfathers, fattening, mothers and laying farms, in order to meet the needs of the Ramadan season, as the consumption rate increases between 35% and 40%, calling on the government to seek a balance between the interest of Industry, poultry breeders and the citizen.