Iran currently produces between 3,500 and 3,600 tonnes of eggs per day on average. Photo: CanvaSince the beginning of the Persian calendar year, which began on 20 March, Iran’s poultry farmers have collectively suffered a staggering net loss of 20 trillion tomans, equivalent to approximately US$48 million.
Unless authorities take urgent measures, the entire egg industry may soon go bankrupt, Hamid Reza Kashani, chairman of the Mihan Poultry Farmers’ Union, told local press.
The average farmgate egg prices currently range between 30,000 and 35,000 tomans per kg, which is 45,000 tomans below the production costs, Kashani said, adding that in recent months, the egg segment has been operating with a business profitability of minus 20%.
Feedstuff shortage
Similar to previous years, the key problem hampering Iran’s poultry industry operation is a lack of feedstuff. As Kashani revealed, the state-controlled system is short of feedstuff to meet the needs of farmers, so they have to buy it on the open market, where prices are twice as high.
Iran has a state-regulated system to distribute agricultural feedstuff among livestock farmers. The government establishes reserves of feed ingredients, such as rapeseed, corn, and sunflower, operating a marketplace through the Agricultural Ministry for farmers to purchase these necessary inputs at subsidised prices.
ALSO READ:
Iran’s egg market is caught in the crossfire of war with Israel
Rabobank: Poultry markets shaped by geopolitics and avian influenza
Actions needed
According to Kashani, poultry farmers repeatedly complained to the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad. However, the perpetual ring of the alarm bell falls on deaf ears.
“To save the industry and keep production running, it is necessary to provide poultry farmers with inputs urgently and on a long-term basis, and also to purchase and collect 50,000 tonnes of eggs at a guaranteed price of 74,500 tomans immediately,” Kashani said.
A wave of bankruptcies in the egg industry could push the domestic production below the self-sufficiency level. “Without this [the state aid] we will face a serious production crisis in the second half of the year, so severe we will once again become egg importers,” Kashani warned.
No more state order
Currently, Iran produces between 3,500 and 3,600 tonnes of eggs per day on average. As part of the efforts to regulate the market, authorities have been purchasing surplus eggs from farmers for the state reserve.
Since the beginning of the year, the Livestock Affairs Support Department has purchased 23,000 tonnes of surplus eggs from poultry farmers. However, as Kashani revealed, this practice has recently been suspended, which adds pressure to the supply chain.
