Ras Al Khaimah: Local poultry and feed companies announced on Thursday that egg and chicken prices will be increased by 15 to 20 per cent this month.
The companies said that a letter will be sent to the Ministry of Economy to notify it of the price increase.
In a meeting held yesterday with representatives of 20 local poultry companies top officials from the Ministry of Economy urged companies to increase production to achieve self-sufficiency in the UAE.
Sources from RAK-based poultry companies said that the ministry was extremely serious in its demand in the shadow of a major shortage of eggs in the local market.
The companies demanded more support and better protection, announcing they were ready to increase production and cover the needs of the UAE local market only when they received this support.
The sources said that the ministry should ban excessive and random imports of eggs and chickens that flood the local markets.
Self-sufficiency
Senior company officials said local poultry companies had the financial and technical capability to ensure the UAE was self-sufficient regarding poultry production. The officials stressed that the ministry should secure successful marketing for their products locally to spare any possible loss once production was increased.
The officials said that local companies met 50 per cent of the local need for eggs with the production of 600 million.
The UAE requires 1.2 billion eggs. The officials said the only remaining alternative was imports mainly from India and Saudi Arabia to meet the shortage. Local companies have a certain category of customers who are ready to pay more for local production.
Recently local companies have increased the price of a tray of eggs by Dh1, according to size. A tray of small eggs used to be sold for Dh13, a medium sized tray cost Dh14 and a large tray cost Dh15.
The official said the companies demanded a 15 to 20 per cent price increase following an increase in the price of feed by 60 to 80 per cent.
