Philippines reaches record high egg output in 2020

Chicken egg output in 2020 reached 605,786.16 mt (12.721 billion pieces), an increase of almost 4%, or 22,552.16 mt more than the 2019 figure of 583,234 mt, reports The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Chairman of the Philippine Egg Board Association, Gregorio San Diego, said the industry underwent a significant expansion as some of the swine farmers affected by African Swine Fever moved to chicken egg production, reports the Business Mirror, adding that the increase in production was only felt toward the end of 2020, which was reflected in the reduction of egg prices.

As of 1 January, the country’s chicken layer population expanded by 4.19% to a record high of 42.928 million birds, from 41.202 million birds posted in the same period a year ago, data from the PSA shows.

Poultry meat importers call for easing of poultry bans

Meanwhile, due to the tightening supply of poultry, chicken meat importers in the country are urging the government to ease bans on the importation of poultry products by implementing zonal bans instead of country-wide restrictions, reports The Philippine Star. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary William Dar, the Meat Importers and Traders Association (MITA) said the supply of poultry products has become very tight due to the numerous import bans in countries with reported cases of bird flu. Recently, the country’s Department of Agriculture (DA) issued a temporary ban on the importation of domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, and eggs from the UK, the Czech Republic as well as Russia following reported outbreaks of the virus.

MITA president, Jess Cham, told The Philippine Star that the tighter supply in the market translates into higher raw material cost for processors and consumers, and that MITA is urging the DA to allow the importation of poultry products from affected countries if the products are from zones free of highly pathogenic avian influenza and are tested and found negative. “The temporary ban on the UK will worsen the dire situation we are in now. The UK, together with the Netherlands and Germany, which have also been banned for several months now, comprising about 60% of our MDM chicken supply,” The Philippine Star reported VP of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc., Jerome Ong, saying.