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BusinessLive reports that with the price of chicken soaring and set to hit record highs, local poultry producers have dismissed suggestions that they are profiteering at the expense of consumers.
Chicken is one of the most popular animal proteins consumed by cash-strapped consumers, in part because it is still relatively affordable. But prices, which have increased by at least 10% annually over the past decade and by as much as 17% in the past year, are set to hit record highs as input prices spike partly due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukraine is one of the largest producers of oilseed and grain, the main ingredients of chicken feed. On Monday, Izaak Breitenbach of the SA Poultry Association, which represents local producers, said contrary to popular belief producers have not made enough profit in recent years to invest back into the industry. He said recent price increases have been forced on them by rising feed prices, which make up 70% of a producer’s input costs. The sector has in the past shed thousands of jobs and ascribed its struggles to cheap chicken imports mainly from Brazil, the US and Europe. The Association of Meat Importers and Exporters has been calling on the government to remove all tariffs and suspend the consumption tax on all poultry to cushion consumers from the rising price of chicken. But Francois Baird of the FairPlay Movement has suggested that importers are pushing for the suspension or removal of tariffs to maximise their own profits, not necessarily to protect consumers. Baird believes that the low prices at which chicken is imported are not passed on to consumers. While local producers have backed the removal of VAT on selected cuts of poultry consumed by lower-income families, they vehemently oppose the removal of tariffs. Trade, industry & competition minister Ebrahim Patel is also against the suspension of tariffs, arguing that such an “extreme” step would destroy local jobs.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Bekezela Phakathi at BusinessLive
- Read too, Local poultry producers remain at odds with chicken importers on tariffs, at Engineering News
Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page