News

M’sia Minister Said They Can Now Export Chickens As Situation Has Stabilised

2022-08-01 , 6:40 pm

For all the chicken lovers in Singapore, here’s some good news.

And even if you’re not one, I’m sure you’ve at least heard of the chicken export ban set by the Malaysian government earlier this year.

You can watch this video to know more about this:

However, two months after the ban, Malaysia announced today (1 August) that they will be lifting it to allow the exporting of chickens to return to normal.

According to Malaysian Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Ronald Kiandee, the chicken supply in Malaysia is currently stable after action was taken by the Malaysian government.

Malaysia Currently Experiencing “Oversupply” of Chickens

In Malaysia’s Parliament, Mr Kiandee added that Malaysia is currently facing an “oversupply” of chickens, meaning the country is able to supply chickens to other countries now.

“These steps have resulted in an oversupply of chicken now, causing its price to drop below the ceiling price set by the government.

“At this point [in] time, we are able to produce 106% of our needs for chicken. This means we have the capacity to export chicken from our country,” he added.

He also noted that the country has tackled its chicken production issues with various policies such as raising the number of imported chickens and banning the exporting of chickens.

Chicken Export Ban in Malaysia

On 1 June this year, the Malaysian government initially announced that they were banning the export of around 3.6 million chickens from Malaysia.

This was to allow the country to rectify problems regarding chicken supply and pricing that Malaysians have been complaining about.

In particular, there were traders who priced their chickens above the price ceiling during the supply shortage in order to make up for their costs.

To address that issue, the Malaysian government implemented a new price ceiling for standard chicken, with the ceiling price being RM9.40 (approximately S$2.90) per kg from 1 July onwards.

However, despite the intentions of the ban, there were various stakeholders in the poultry industry who appealed to the government and asked for them to lift the ban, as not doing so would cause Malaysia to lose its place in the Singapore market.

Singapore’s Response to the Ban

After the ban was announced, Singapore, which used to import 34%, or around one-third, of its fresh chicken supply from Malaysia, turned to other countries such as Indonesia and Thailand to purchase chickens.

Most chickens from Malaysia were exported to Singapore while they were still alive. Thereafter, these chickens were slaughtered and chilled in Singapore.

Increase in Price of Chickens in Singapore

However, despite being able to buy chickens from other countries, Singapore saw an increase in the price of chickens during the days before and after the ban was implemented.

As most Singaporeans may remember, chickens were in extremely high demand as well, with some chicken rice stalls choosing to close their businesses temporarily too.

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Malaysia Lifted Ban Partially After 2 Weeks, Singapore Importing Chickens From Indonesia

A fortnight after the ban, the Malaysian government chose to lift the ban partially, permitting Malaysian poultry companies to export kampung and black chickens to Singapore from 14 June onwards.

More recently on 13 July, Jakarta exported its first batch of chickens to Singapore as part of a new scheme for Indonesian companies to supply chickens to Singapore.