Chicken price still unstable, traders say

SHAH ALAM - Chicken traders are still dealing with the instability of the raw material price obtained from suppliers even though it has recorded several decreases in the past month.

A chicken trader at Pasar Moden Seksyen 6, here, Mohd Fadzil Affandi, claimed that the situation had been going on for more than two years, which started when the country entered the Covid-19 pandemic phase.

"We used to be able to predict it, for example, before the school holidays, prices would go up because people will have weddings and various other events.

“So, the price is expected to be high because the demand is high.

"When school holidays are over, prices will drop again in a week or two, that's the norm, but now, after the Movement Control Order (MCO), the trend can no longer be predicted.

“Prices will go up and down, regardless of time,” he said.

Sinar Harian's survey here on Monday found that traders are selling chicken at prices between RM9.40 and RM9.70, which is about the ceiling price previously set by the government.

Fadzil said in the past month or so, the price of chicken received from suppliers dropped three times from RM8.70 to RM7.80 before rising again by 30 cents to RM8.10.

He said due to the price instability, the profit obtained was between RM1 to RM2 only for each kilogram of chicken sold to customers.

Another chicken trader Azman Dol Hamid, 57, said that although the raw material price decreased, he still could not predict whether the trend would continue.

He added that the demand for chicken from customers had yet to recover to the pre-pandemic period as many people faced financial constraints due to the cost of living pressure.

"The demand is still lacking, not like before. It is probably because people don't have the money yet, from the effect of the previous pandemic," he said.

Azman added that he estimated the drop in demand to be around 30 to 40 per cent compared to before the pandemic.