Ramzan, switch to ethanol fuel surge in chicken prices
Poultry price inflation reached 5.7% last month, from (-) 4% in January and 2.4% a year ago.
Commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal said, “This is the highest export growth that we have achieved in the merchandise and services in the 11 months of the current fiscal.”
“We have overshot last year’s figures. This gives us a lot of hope that when we end March, our overall exports will be higher than last year’s record exports. The trend continues despite so many difficulties," Barthwal said.
“The credit goes to our exporters, trading communities and manufacturing communities that they have been able to withstand all these difficult times,” Barthwal said at a press briefing.
“It gives us hope that predictions for 2024-25 will be much better as we have been able to withstand one of the most difficult years. That shows resilience in our export sector. The next fiscal is going to be very good year,” Barthwal added.
Overall trade deficit, including merchandise and services, stood at $72.24 billion during the April 2023-February 2024 period, down from $116.13 billion in the year-ago period.
From a bird flu epidemic to India’s pivot towards a green economy and falling sugar production, a host of unlikely factors is causing a spike in chicken prices, fuelled further by the holy month of Ramzan.
Ramzan began on 12 March and is set to continue until 10 April—a period marked by daily fasting but also consumption of chicken when the fast ends at dusk.
The month ends with three days of Id-ul-Fitr celebrations, when a variety of meats, including chicken, is eaten.
The price of chicken, a common source of protein after the daily break of fast, is on the rise due to increasing input costs affecting production. Agriculture experts said this trend may persist till April.
In February, broiler chicken prices rose 10% due to limited supplies stemming from the outbreak of bird flu in Andhra Pradesh. The escalating cost of feed further drove up prices, as maize prices soared by 20% from ₹22,000 per tonne to ₹26,500 per tonne over the past three months.
This is attributed to the government's push on ethanol production to achieve the E20 target of
20% ethanol mix in petrol by 2025-26. Ethanol producers turned to maize amid declining sugar production.
Consequently, chicken prices rose from ₹100-110 a month ago to ₹106-130 per kg across key farm gates in tier-1 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata, according to spot traders.
Retail food inflation climbed from 8.3% in January to 8.66% in February,
10% rise in broiler chicken prices in February