Kazakh poultry farmers face new wave of price increases

So far, in 2022, the average price of broiler meat in Kazakhstan jumped by 25%, the Kazakh union of poultry breeders estimated. This seems to be just the beginning of a big bullish trend leading to a tectonic shift in consumer habits in the Kazakh market.

New feed, new prices

The Kazakh news outlet, Nur, assumed that the next round of price increases in the market could turn chicken meat into a luxury item. Ruslav Sharipov, director of the Kazakh union of poultry breeders, said that in the next several months, the prices are predicted to rise by at least half as farmers need to offset expanding costs.

“Why was there [such a low rise] in prices so far? Because poultry farms had large stocks of old grain. When absolutely all poultry farms switch to a new feed, the growth will be at least 50-60% of the cost,” Kirill Pavlov, a local agricultural analyst, told the news outlet.

Pavlov said the current crisis has the potential to deteriorate further as problems in the world’s mineral fertilizers market could undermine global grain production in the next several seasons.

Rising costs across the board

Sharipov said that the current crisis had been caused by “the problems around the world”. He added that this definitely should not be seen as a failure of the government policy.

Over the past few months, Kazakh poultry farmers complained about challenges associated with not only rising feedstuff prices but also expanding costs of natural gas, equipment and fuel. The logistics crunch in the post-Soviet space caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has also hit Kazakhstan.

A plea for subsidies

“Additives, all vitamins, amino acids – everything is imported from outside the republic, as well as equipment and medicines,” Sharipov said, adding that broiler producers keep asking the authorities to ramp up subsidies, which have not been revised in years.

“Subsidies are required. The subsidies currently are given at 80 tenges (US$0.16) per kilogramme [of broiler meat]. They gave 80 tenges 10-13 years ago, so this figure didn’t change, while the price has risen. We need subsidies to be increased. This should be done by at least 50%. I think that somewhere more than 100-120 tenge (US$0.2-$0.24) should be given per kilogramme,” Sharipov added.