Iran records record drop in poultry consumption

According to the general DIRECTOR of the poultry trade union Mazandaran, Ataulla Hasanzade, in December 2022 - January 2023. domestic market surplus exceeded 15 million chickens worth 400 billion fogs ($0.95 million ) . This means a 20-30% decrease in demand for poultry MEAT in the country.

Because of this, poultry farmers had to exclude hatching eggs from the production cycle. Thousands of expensive eggs just have to be thrown away, the newspaper writes. Currently, the price of hatching eggs in the Iranian market is 12,000 tomans ($0.28) apiece. At the beginning of 2022, the cost of 1 egg did not exceed 2.5 thousand fogs (0.006 usd). The price of one-day-old chicks also increased 3-5 times from 3-5 thousand fogs ($0.007-0.012) per HEAD to 15 thousand fogs ($0.036).

The main reason for the sharp drop in demand is the unsuccessful reform of the food industry, which was launched in November 2022. The government has revised the state-subsidized exchange rates at which poultry farmers purchase feed. This triggered a five-fold increase in the price of corn and soybeans and caused an unprecedented jump in the price of broilers.

it is reported that this problem is planned to be solved through the introduction of food stamps, which will partially cover the cost of poultry meat. However, due to the lack of technical capacity to implement this measure, it is not known when it will be put into effect.

According to Hasanzade, at present, the monthly demand for chicken meat in the domestic market of Iran is estimated at 120 million heads. Without food stamps, it will drop to 90 million heads. At the same time, even the increase in prices did not compensate farmers for production costs, and they continue to sell broilers at a loss of 10,000 fogs per head (0.024 US dollars). He states that "poultry farmers are tired of losses" and many of them are thinking about closing their businesses.