Egg prices stabilising, no supply issue, says deputy minister
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THE price of eggs have stabilised now and there are ample supply for Christmas and Chinese New Year in February next year, Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Sim Tze Tzin said.
He also explained that the recent spike in egg prices was due to the temporary closure of a farm in Perak, where the chickens were suspected of contracting bird flu.
“There was a temporary ban at the farm. It was not allowed to sell eggs pending inspections. So it caused low supply in the market, and led to panic buying by some egg dealers.
“But the farm has since been cleared. There is no disease outbreak there, so operations have resumed. The supply of eggs is returning to normal.
Sim said there was no need for Malaysia to import eggs if the same problem happened again because the country was self-sufficient in producing eggs.
“We can even continue to export to Hong Kong, Singapore, Maldives and Dubai.”
He also said Malaysia remained to be one of the most efficient egg and chicken producers in the region, and had been rather successful in keeping prices stable.
The prices of eggs recently jumped by almost 30% in a week. The price for a crate of 10 eggs reportedly hit RM5.11 compared to less than RM4 a week before.
Malaysia has a high egg consumption, with 30 million to 34 million consumed daily. An average Malaysian eats 400 eggs a year.
Although the situation with the supply will improve with the Perak farm back in business, Sim said it was true that poultry farms were facing trouble in sustaining their businesses.
He said in Penang, the number of poultry farms that produced eggs had decreased in recent years.
In 2016, there were 98 farms in operation but now there are 79 left. As a result, the number of chickens producing eggs went from 1.87 million to 1.46 million.
Sim said small farms were going through tough times not only because imported chicken feed was becoming more expensive and operation costs were getting higher, but also because new developments were crowding them out.
“They are forced to move away. They face complaints from nearby residents who have moved into their areas, and slapped with fines.
“The pressures led to many of them to give up their businesses. It happened to those in the Valdor area,” he said.
Apart from pressures that come from local council regulations and resident complaints, farmers also have to deal with climate change that led to chicken suffering “immunosuppression” and illnesses that lower egg production.
“The recent weather pattern had caused egg production to fall up to 70% at some farms where farmers were not observing the best husbandry practices,” Sim said.
He said consumers also have to understand that egg farmers were facing various issues and challengers to stay in business and keep the egg supply stable.
“The way to go is to keep egg prices stabilised so consumers won’t be burdened by high prices.
“If the farms can’t make some profit, they will be forced to close. Then we will face a drop in supply and a spike in prices,” he said.
Asked if the recent hike had anything to do with egg cartels, Sim said he should not be making assumptions, and it was best to let the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry to investigate.
On the issue of expensive chicken feed, he said the increase in prices was a global problem.
He said his ministry was looking into ways to help farmers with the problem by trying to plant maize locally, which is used to feed chicken, to reduce to need to import.
“This type of maize cannot get too much rain, but we have maize planting pilot projects in Kedah, Perak and Kelantan.
“We are producing five tonnes per hectare now, but we have to increase to eight tonnes for it to be sustainable,” Sim added. – December 21, 2018.