All poultry prices are likely to rise due to global increases in grain, fertiliser and other input costs
29 March 2022 - 14:06
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
The answer is yes — increase local production and remove dependency on imported chicken. The master plan aims to curb dumped imports and stimulate local production to serve expanded local and export markets. It plans a steady increase in production, and the creation of nearly 5,000 local jobs, of which 1,365 jobs have already been added.
Imports, particularly of bone-in cuts such as leg quarters, have been dropping for several years. Three main factors are responsible: bird-flu bans on EU countries, trade disruptions, and higher import tariffs.
Peerie speculates that the US, which currently supplies just under 10% of our chicken imports, could be the next to suffer a bird flu ban as avian influenza sweeps that country. Would that cause a shortage? Brazil regularly increases supplies to SA when other countries face-bird flu bans, and the local industry has said it could, over time, replace imports in line with master-plan objectives. Australia also now exports to SA.
The price issue is more urgent. The Russian war on Ukraine is pushing up food and fuel prices worldwide. Thus, all poultry prices are likely to rise because of global increases in grain, fertiliser and other input costs.
This is why the government should step in and remove the 15% value added tax (VAT) from some chicken products. FairPlay has called for zero-rating of chicken since 2018, targeted at the portions consumed most by lower-income households.
With price increases inevitable for the country’s most popular and most affordable meat protein, the time for “VAT-free chicken” is now.
Francois Baird Founder, FairPlay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: VAT-free chicken is vital
All poultry prices are likely to rise due to global increases in grain, fertiliser and other input costs
Anthony Peerie wonders whether the poultry master plan has an answer to what could be a looming shortage of poultry imports (“Chicken dumping duties on EU countries are irrelevant,” March 27).
The answer is yes — increase local production and remove dependency on imported chicken. The master plan aims to curb dumped imports and stimulate local production to serve expanded local and export markets. It plans a steady increase in production, and the creation of nearly 5,000 local jobs, of which 1,365 jobs have already been added.
Imports, particularly of bone-in cuts such as leg quarters, have been dropping for several years. Three main factors are responsible: bird-flu bans on EU countries, trade disruptions, and higher import tariffs.
Peerie speculates that the US, which currently supplies just under 10% of our chicken imports, could be the next to suffer a bird flu ban as avian influenza sweeps that country. Would that cause a shortage? Brazil regularly increases supplies to SA when other countries face-bird flu bans, and the local industry has said it could, over time, replace imports in line with master-plan objectives. Australia also now exports to SA.
The price issue is more urgent. The Russian war on Ukraine is pushing up food and fuel prices worldwide. Thus, all poultry prices are likely to rise because of global increases in grain, fertiliser and other input costs.
This is why the government should step in and remove the 15% value added tax (VAT) from some chicken products. FairPlay has called for zero-rating of chicken since 2018, targeted at the portions consumed most by lower-income households.
With price increases inevitable for the country’s most popular and most affordable meat protein, the time for “VAT-free chicken” is now.
Francois Baird
Founder, FairPlay
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
LETTER: Chicken dumping duties on EU countries are irrelevant
More corrections expected in poultry anti-dumping duties
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
LETTER: Chicken importers cry foul but withhold facts
LETTER: Poultry importers late in joining antidumping fight
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.