KATHMANDU, Aug 22: Poultry entrepreneurs have raised the price of chicken by Rs 15 per kg in the Kathmandu Valley, citing low supplies.
The fresh adjustment means the price of chicken in the capital has reached all time high of Rs 280 per kg. Similarly, price of live chicken has increased to record high of Rs 205 per kg, up by Rs 10 per kg.
A joint meeting of poultry farmers, entrepreneurs and wholesalers in the capital decided to increase the price mainly because of low supplies that made them difficult to meet the demand, said Janga Bahadur BC, president of National Chicken Sellers´ Association (NCSA).
“We have been compelled to raise the price of chicken yet again as we could not fulfill the demand,” BC said, adding: “Supplies at present is less by 15 to 20 percent of the daily demand.”
Earlier, poultry entrepreneurs had raised the price on July 30 citing low supplies and rise in feed prices.
According to the association, chicken supplies from farms have been dwindling for the past few months as farmers had reduced the number of chicks in their farms following outbreak of bird flu in the capital earlier this year, increasing cost of production and low returns.
Given the insufficient supply and rise in production cost, BC expected chicken price to rise further in the coming days. “Customers may have to pay higher price for chicken during the upcoming festive season,” added BC.
In the past years, price of chicken used to go down during summer due to drop in demand. But this summer, the association has not been able to fulfill the demand though it has gone down by 10 to 15 percent.
Daily consumption of chicken in the capital hovers around 200,000 kg to 250,000 kg while the daily demand in the country stands at around 350,000 kg.
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