Poultry industry mulls price increase

Anjana Samarasinghe

CHICKEN PRICES: The poultry industry is looking for a price increase next month due to high production costs.

Chairman of the All Island Poultry Association AIPA Dr D. Wanasinghe told Daily News after the Government decided to control the price of ten essential items including chicken, the association entered into the official agreement with the Government to produce poultry at a price of Rs. 260 during the festive season.

This price was set for chicken, which are not skinned, and skinned chicken was released from the price control.

Members of the association say they cannot provide poultry for Rs. 260 even after the festive season. However the Government wanted to continue the price reduction of these ten essential items after the festive season too.

Wanasinghe said that chicken is the only item, which is produced in the country, and all other items included in the price control list are imported to Sri Lank. Import tax on these items has been exempted for price reduction of these essential items.

But the poultry industry has not been granted any tax concessions or reductions to reduce prices since taxes have been imposed in four stages of the poultry production process. The Association expects to lobby for a price increase when setting prices for next month with the Government.

However this price increase will badly impact the poultry industry and there should be a tax reduction in the industry to reduce the production costs and deliver benefits to consumers, he said.

Generally in the festive season the poultry industry has an additional sales increase. But these additional sales were not witnessed during this festive season, he said.

All the branded chicken were sold at Rs. 260 during the festive season but some retailers and small shops sold at a price of Rs 300.

In the festive season these retailers used to purchase poultry from branded poultry producers and sold them removing the packages at higher prices. Some branded chicken producers have restricted bulk selling to prevent this, he said.