KUALA LUMPUR - Consumers in Malaysia may have to turn to chicken meat after pork prices doubled in the last 15 months and could rise further as local farmers cut production.
Livestock farmers have been battling the higher cost of animal feed worldwide, while the African swine fever has caused supply constraints locally.
Malaysia’s pork prices were at RM1,620 (S$487) per 100kg in April, compared with RM760 in January 2022, according to the Butchers Association of Selangor.
Malaysia exports frozen pork and live pigs to Singapore. In 2021, it exported 98,400 live pigs worth RM109.45 million, but did not give the breakdown by country.
In Singapore, lean pork retail prices rose to S$16.50 per kg in February, from S$15.80 per kg in the same month a year ago, according to economic data research firm CEIC.
“The higher pork prices may not sit well with (Malaysian) consumers. With the current economic trend, consumers will be very cautious with their buying,” Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu told The Straits Times.
Consumers could switch to a cheaper source of meat, he said in an e-mail interview, with the government “confident that there is enough supply of chicken throughout 2023”.
Malaysia has been wrestling with chicken and egg shortages for more than a year, with the government allowing in more imports to mitigate rising prices and meet domestic demand.
Pork made up about 8.5 per cent of all meat consumed in Muslim-majority Malaysia in 2021, excluding seafood, according to data from market research firm Statista.
Poultry (chicken and ducks) – at 80 per cent – was the most popular, followed by beef and veal (8.9 per cent), and sheep (1.7 per cent), according to Statista.
The output of pigs in Malaysia has fallen to 1.6 million in 2022, from 1.9 million in 2018, as higher animal feed prices resulted in farmers cutting back on production, according to livestock statistics from the Department of Veterinary Services.
Rising prices of imported feed such as maize, soya bean and rice bran have badly affected chicken and pig farmers, said Mr Mohamad.
Meanwhile, African swine fever infected more than 68,000 pigs in Malaysia in February, prompting the government to restrict inter-state movement of pigs for slaughtering to prevent the disease from spreading. This was the cause of the pork shortage in the Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur and Selangor), said Butchers Association of Selangor assistant chairman Henry Lee.
“In the next three months, we expect prices to stabilise before increasing further. More consumers will shun pork and shift to other meats such as chicken,” he told ST.
Deputy Minister Fuziah Salleh from the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry said the government will continue to impose a cap on chicken prices at RM9.40 per kg for 16 days, starting from seven days before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which is likely to fall on April 22 in Malaysia.
“We will make sure the price of meats such as chicken and beef that are highly in demand is in control and the supply is enough,” she told ST.
