May 18, 2021
With India struggling with the second wave of Covid-19 many sectors have been affected and the poultry sector is facing new hindrances that are gravely implicating the poultry farmers and the livestock feed manufacturers. Soya meal one of the main components of livestock feed having a 30% share in the feed composition, has witnessed a sudden spree in the price. The Indore market price of Soya meal 46% protein during March 2020 was Rs 30,000 Ex-plant. The price currently has gone up to Rs 54,500 per metric tonne. As compared to the previous year, the Soya meal price has increased by a whopping hike of 82%. There is no particular reason for this type of abnormal price increase, as there are ample Soya stocks available in the market.
The Indian livestock sector presently contributes 25.6% to the agricultural GDP and 4.11% to the national GDP which is lesser than its potential. The poultry sector contributes Rs 1.3lakh crore to the GDP. The poultry industry had run into losses of over Rs 26,000 crores in just three months in 2020, owing to misinformation about Covid 19 spreading from the consumption of chicken and a nationwide supply chain and logistics logjam. This compressed not only the poultry industry but other supporting industries, such as the livestock feed manufacturers. In addition, the prices of raw materials, primarily soya meal, have gone up in the past few months.
Seeing the drop in the poultry sector, the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries department issued an office memorandum to the undersecretary of the department of commerce, recommending duty-free import of 12 lakh metric tonnes of soya meal to avoid further ramification of losses for the sector. This recommendation was in response to a request made by the industry, which had raised the issue early in April. The letter has also requested regulation of soybean commodity trade on commodity exchanges, which would end the speculation-driven surge in soybean prices.
The feed industry is unable to pass on this Soya price hike to the end consumer fearing loss of customer base and reduced feed demand which in turn is leading to a loss for the feed manufacturers. The recommendation made by the Animal Husbandry and Fisheries department to import soya meal duty-free is a welcome and much-needed move. This will provide relief not only to the poultry industry at large but also to other associated and supplementary industries such as the feed manufacturers, and the end consumers.
India’s poultry sector, valued at nearly Rs 90,000 crore, is going through a rough ride yet again, the third time in a space of 14 months. The duty-free import of soya will bring down the price to nearly half of the current market rate.
Poultry is one of the fastest-growing segments of the agricultural sector in India today. As per the industry estimates, India produces 2.75 million tons of chicken meat and 65.48 million (2.86 million tons) of hen eggs/year. Furthermore, it employs 3 million people and contributes over Rs 45,416 crores to the Gross National Product. The Indian poultry market, consisting of broiler and eggs, reached a value of Rs 1,988 billion in 2020. Indian poultry market to grow at a 5/17/2021 Second wave of Covid-19 hits poultry sector CAGR of 15.2% during 2021-2026. The Indian livestock feed market size reached a value of almost Rs 403.5 billion in the year 2020. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 15% between 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of almost Rs 933.3 billion by 2026.