Malaysia to float egg and chicken prices, ending subsidies from July

Kuala Lumpur’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, has announced that the prices of eggs and chicken will be floated starting July 1. This follows the termination of government subsidies for these items on June 30. The domestic trade and cost of living ministry will oversee the pricing of eggs and chicken.

Mohamad Sabu, also known as Mat Sabu, stated that the ministry will implement several soft landing mechanisms to ensure the stability of chicken and egg supplies after the subsidies end. Among these measures is the removal of the ban on exporting live broiler chickens, except for day-old chicks, whole chickens, and chicken cuts, from July 1. The ministry will also allow the importation of poultry and eggs from recognised source countries.

“For the importation of chicken, the permitted source countries include Thailand, China, Brazil and Denmark. While for the importation of eggs, the source countries allowed are Thailand and Ukraine,” Mohamad Sabu said. He added that these measures would enable farmers to earn income from the export market and help cash flow into the country.

The ministry will continue the stockpiling programme for whole chickens under the Board of Farmers’ Organisations. As of May 7, 63% of the target of 2,177 metric tonnes has been stored. Additionally, the Civil Agro Sales Program by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Board (Fama) will continue to market various agricultural products, including eggs, at prices 5 to 10% lower than the local bazaar, particularly in low-income housing areas.

“Until May 8, a total of 28,078,620 eggs have been distributed through 369 FAMA outlets,” Mohamad Sabu said.

He was responding to a question from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (Bersatu) Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, who asked if the government had conducted a comprehensive study on the effects of the chicken and eggs price control policy change.

Currently, the controlled retail price for a standard chicken, or a chicken that has been slaughtered, cleaned and with all parts retained, is RM9.40 per kilogram in Peninsular Malaysia; RM9.90 per kg in Langkawi; between RM9.80 and RM12.90 per kg in Sarawak, depending on the district; either RM11 or RM11.30 per kg in Sabah, again based on the district; and RM11.30 per kg in Labuan.