>KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - The Veterinary Services Department has taken steps to ensure that the supply of chicken, beef, mutton and eggs meets the additional demand during the Hari Raya season.
Its director-general, Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz Jamaluddin, said the supply of chicken would increase by three per cent, with 9.54 million chickens available during the week of Hari Raya.
The week before Hari Raya and after Hari Raya will see a supply of 9.26 million and 9.60 million chickens respectively.
Farm prices for chicken will average out to RM5.10 ($2.13) per kg while retail prices will be RM7.30 per kg for standard category chicken (with feet, head, liver and gizzards) to RM8.20 per kg for super category chicken (without feet, head, liver and gizzard).
However, the prices would be confirmed by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry at least a week before Hari Raya, said Dr Abdul Aziz.
To mitigate the possibility of the price of chicken increasing, the government had allowed for the import of as much as 20,000 tonnes of chicken from Thailand and China.
Dr Abdul Aziz said supply of eggs was expected to rise by six per cent to 23.5 million eggs a day during the festive season, compared with 22.2 million eggs a day normally.
The retail price of eggs will be 38 sen, 37 sen, 36 sen and 35 sen per egg for Grade A, B, C and D respectively. For beef and buffalo meat, supply would be increased by 27 per cent to 21,942 tonnes starting from the fasting month.
About 5,000 tonnes will be made up of local meat supply, while the rest will be imported.
He said the farm prices for cows and buffaloes were expected to be about RM6-RM7 per kg while retail prices would be about RM20-RM26 per kg for local meat and RM10-RM14 per kg for imported meat.
The supply of mutton is expected to increase during the fasting month by about 10 per cent to reach 2,361 tonnes, out of which 235 tonnes would be local mutton and the rest imported.
The farm price of goats is expected to be between RM16 to RM20 per kg, while the retail price during the festive season will be between RM25 and RM30 per kg for local meat and RM18 to RM20 for imported meat.
Dr Abdul Aziz said his department would work hand in hand with the ministry to ensure that the prices of such items remain reasonable during the festive season. -- NST
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