Big poultry cos made Tk520cr profit in 15 days: Farmers
Poultry farmers blame large producers for market manipulation, as the companies on Friday held middlemen responsible for abnormal price hikes
Big companies producing chicks, eggs, and broilers made an additional profit of around Tk520 crore from the market in just 15 days by prompting a market volatility, according to the poultry farmers and dealers' organisation Bangladesh Poultry Association.
"The country's poultry sector has now gone into the hands of the mafia. Some 10 to 12 big companies, such as Kazi Farms, Paragon, CP, Nourish, 71, Afil and New Hope, are colluding with one another to control the market," Mohammad Suman Howladar, president of the association, told a press conference in Dhaka on Saturday.
At the press conference, leaders of the organisation said the daily demand for eggs in the country is 4.5 crore pieces, while the companies supply 2.5 crore pieces. The rest comes from marginal farmers.
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The poultry association claimed that big companies illegally profited by more than Tk7 crore per day by overcharging Tk3 per egg during the poultry market volatility. In this way, they swindled more than Tk112 crore from the egg market alone in the last 15 days.
The association claimed the companies pocketed Tk172 crore from the broiler market and Tk234 crore from chick sales in similar manner. The artificially created crisis put a squeeze on the marginal farmers who depend on the companies for the chicks.
"However, general farmers who used to sell chickens at Tk120 per kg or less have sold broilers at Tk140-145 during the period of the soaring market," said the association's president Suman Howladar.
The association said small farmers are facing trouble due to spiked prices of poultry feed. A 50-kg sack of poultry feed now costs Tk3,300, while the feed costs Tk2,500 for farms that do contract farming with the companies.
Suman Howladar claimed around 40,000 chicken farmers out of a total of 1 lakh registered poultry-men had to shutter businesses thanks to artificial chick and feed price hikes by the companies.
At the press briefing, the association leaders claimed the storehouses cannot fix the chicken and egg prices on their own. Rather, there are company representatives at the houses who set the prices.
In a press release, the association of the companies, Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC), on Friday pointed the finger at a demand-supply gap and poultry middlemen.
"The middlemen [wholesalers] are making unfair profits and so forcing farmers to incur losses," said the council's President Mashiur Rahman.
The council noted that broiler chicken production cost is now Tk140-Tk145 per kg, as egg production is Tk9.50 per piece. The production cost of eggs and chicken has increased by 30%-40% due to an abnormal increase in the price of feed-making raw materials in the international market, heavy depreciation of the taka against the dollar, excessive shipping charges and countrywide frequent power cuts.
Mashiur Rahman said the middlemen made a profit of Tk27-Tk32 per kg though farmers faced Tk12-Tk14 loss per kg before 6 August.
"There will be middlemen in the market chain, but the amount of profit should be reasonable," he said, adding, "if the marginal farmers do not get fair prices, poultry production will collapse. Therefore, the government should adopt short and long-term plans to protect the marginal poultry-men."
