Daily Bangla Times: The Bangladesh Poultry Association has said that big poultry farms made Tk 936 crore in extra profit through syndication in 52 days.

They made an extra Tk 624 crore by selling broiler chickens and Tk 312 crore by selling chicks between January 31 and March 23, according to a press release from the association on Thursday.

The farms produce a kilogram of broiler chicken at Tk 130-140 but sell them to wholesalers at Tk 230 per kg, marking a 40 per cent profit over production costs,  the press release said.

They are making Tk 60 extra profit per kg broiler chicken and selling two thousand tonnes per they made Tk 12 crore in additional profits daily and Tk 624 crore in 52 days, the release said.

From January 31, the farms were selling chicks at Tk 80–85 against the production cost of Tk 28–30, making at least Tk 30 in additional profit per chick.

According to the association, the country needs 20 lakh chicks per day. Taking this into account, the farms made an extra profit of Tk 6 crore per day, for a total profit of Tk 312 crore in 52 days.

The association, however, did not name any farms in its press release.

Sumoon Howlader, the president of the association, said due to the profiteering of big farms, small poultry farm owners were forced to close their businesses.

‘We have to buy chicks and feed from big companies. They continued to increase the price of feed and chicks. If we buy a chick for Tk 85-90, the production cost of a kilogram of broiler chicken rises to Tk 170-180,’ he explained.

Many farms in rural areas are shutting down their businesses because they cannot cope with the high prices of chicks and feed, he said.

According to Sumoon, the number of poultry farms came down to 60,000 in 2023 from 1,60,000 in 2009.

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection said that its 54 teams conducted drives in kitchen markets across the country on Friday, the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. 

DNCRP director (additional charge) Monjur Mohammad Shahriar said that they found many traders selling per kg broiler chicken for Tk 270 while the price should be a maximum of Tk 240.

‘The price of broiler chicken will come down within the next three days when new chickens arrive,’ he said.

He went on to say that the drives would continue throughout Ramadan.

Ekushey Padak-winning agro-economist Jahangir Alam said that the government should fix the price of per kilogram broiler chicken, chicks, and eggs after conducting independent surveys on the production cost of those particular items.

‘Sometimes government agencies concerned could do nothing due to the corrupt business syndicate. The government should increase monitoring and punish those who are involved in price manipulation,’ he said.

He feared that small businesses would not survive in such a situation with the price going beyond the poor people’s purchasing capacity.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh president Ghulam Rahman said that only a handful of big farms were benefiting from the price syndication.

‘Such activities are taking place time and again, and no one is punished for their wrongdoings,’ he said.