·
Moratorium
on exports of some 3.6 million birds a month
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The cost of
chilled chicken could rise by up to 30 per cent
Malaysian
chicken exporters this week scrambled to deliver their last batches of fresh chickens
across the border to neighbouring Singapore, ahead of an export ban that
took effect at midnight on Wednesday.
The ban
was announced last week by Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob amid
local supply shortages. The war in Ukraine has also limited the export of raw materials
such as corn and soybeans which are key ingredients in chicken feed, leading to
price increases.
Initially
cautious about mentioning the conflict, Ismail Sabri on
May 28 said Malaysia was
directly affected by supply shortages caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The
Russia-Ukraine war has
affected countries worldwide even though they are not involved in warfare. Malaysia
is directly affected by supply shortages,” Ismail Sabri
said during his visit to Tokyo.
Ismail
Sabri announced the export ban on May 23, following
an emergency cabinet meeting to address mounting public pressure over the government’s
failure to mitigate a shortage in domestic chicken supplies that had been making
headlines since the last quarter of 2021.
Stressing
that the government’s priority was its own people, the prime minister said the moratorium
on exports of some 3.6 million birds a month – mostly into neighbouring Singapore – would
continue until prices and local supplies stabilised.
“I plead
that the Malaysian Family supports this action undertaken by the government to protect
the interests of the public who have been stifled by rising prices and costs of
living, as well as supply shortages,” Ismail Sabri said,
using the tagline he introduced to unite Malaysians after coming to power last August.
Yeah
Kim Leng, economics professor at Sunway University, said
the export ban was necessary to bridge domestic demand, but cautioned that it was
a “blunt tool that is highly disruptive” to producers with long-term overseas supply
contracts.
“The
ban should therefore be quickly lifted as soon as the domestic supply-demand balance
is restored with the cooperation of all industry players,” he said.
Besides
the export ban, Ismail Sabri also announced the country
would create reserve stocks of poultry, abolish import permits and increase the
numbers of certified abattoirs overseas.
Singapore,
where the humble chicken rice reigns
as a local favourite, relies on Malaysia for one-third
of its total poultry supply, with chicken farms north of the island-nation supplying
most of its fresh chickens.
Without
fresh Malaysian birds, Singapore is now left with frozen supply from Brazil, which
accounts for 48 per cent of the nation’s supply, followed by 8 per cent from the
United States, and a coterie of other countries accounting for the remaining 10
per cent.
The Singapore
Food Agency said the restriction might result in temporary disruptions to the supply
of chilled chicken and urged consumers to consider switching to frozen chicken or
other meat products.
Singapore
newspaper The Straits Times
said chicken sellers predicted the cost of chilled chicken could rise by up to 30
per cent, which would send chicken dish prices soaring.
There
are no indications yet when the Malaysian government will lift the ban. At present,
prices remain high and The Star
newspaper on Wednesday reported that poultry was being sold at 17 ringgit per kilogram
at some local grocers, compared to the government’s fixed ceiling price of 8.90
ringgit (US$2.03) effective from February 5 to June 5.
In a
speech on Wednesday, Ismail Sabri said the average price
per kg would have reached 12 ringgit per kg had the government not intervened.
In Singapore,
the founder of Tian Tian Hainanese
Chicken Rice – one of the country’s best-known chicken rice eateries – told The Straits Times she was considering
suspending the sale of chicken dishes if she was unable to get fresh supplies.
If he
was unable to source alternative suppliers “we will bring back dishes like fried
tofu, fried pork chop and prawn salad, but we will not use frozen chicken”, Foo
Kui Lian told the newspaper.
Singapore
authorities have urged the city state’s residents not to hoard or over-purchase
frozen chicken.
The country’s
biggest supermarket chain said it had a four-month stockpile of frozen chicken and
another two months of supply coming in “very soon”.
Some
Singaporeans have found humour in the saga, and taken
to popular e-commerce app Carousell to post lighthearted
advertisements for the “last chicken rice in Singapore that is not frozen”.
“This
is the last unfrozen pack of chicken rice in Singapore,” wrote one ‘seller’, listing
the pack as containing 5,000 grains of rice and nine slices of chicken.
Malaysians
also joked about the situation on social media on the day the ban took effect, particularly
over a video news report by Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia
showing lorries carrying “the last batches of live broiler chickens from Malaysia”
entering the city state’s customs checkpoint ahead of the midnight deadline.
However,
the sight of lorries laden with chicken driving out of
the country also struck a raw nerve with some Malaysians, who questioned whether
the shortage was real or was an attempt by producers at profiteering.
“Throngs
of lorries carrying live chicken into Singapore. In Malaysia some gatherings had
to swap out chicken for fish,” said Izuan Kasim, vice youth chief of Anwar Ibrahim’s Keadilan party.
But medium-scale
Malaysian chicken producer Yani Hardinata
Hairuddin from Safina Foods
rubbished allegations of a conspiracy.
Focusing
on chickens produced according to the Islamic halal method, Yani
said his plant was working together with other halal slaughterhouses to spread the
cost.