Poultry prices could rise before Christmas as feed and freight costs climb

The Greater Accra Poultry Farmers Association has warned that poultry prices could increase slightly before Christmas as rising feed, freight and imported additive costs push up production expenses.

Association Chief Executive Officer Ali Mohammed told Citi Business News that farmers may be forced to raise prices if the cost of essential inputs continues to increase, particularly with the festive season approaching.

The price of maize, soya and other feed ingredients has continued to rise, while higher shipping charges and foreign exchange pressures have added to the financial strain on producers.

“If the trend of the major input continues to go up, likewise the additives which are all imported, because the forex is not coming down and knowing a festivity season is coming, dollar will not come down, freight costs are going up, certainly we may see some slight adjustment of poultry products, prices upwards,” he said.

Mr Mohammed said the combination of more expensive imported additives, a stable or rising dollar cost and increased freight charges could result in poultry products being sold at higher prices during the festive period.

However, he rejected projections that poultry prices would rise by 15%, describing such estimates as speculative.

He said there was no single figure that could be applied across the industry because each farm operates with different costs and profit margins.

“Each farm and its profit margin and the base price that they want to adjust to and we cannot give the kind of percentage raw 15 percent, it can be very speculative, we can’t do that.”

Mr Mohammed explained that individual producers would determine any adjustment according to their operating expenses and the price required to keep their businesses viable.