Zulhas Says The Price Of Livestock Corn Is Starting To Drop To IDR 5,300 Per Kg

Minister of Trade Zulhas (Photo: AntaraA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan said that the price of livestock feed corn commodities has begun to decline. The price of animal feed corn is IDR 5,300 per kilogram, which was previously IDR 8,000 per kg.

"The price of corn as raw material for animal feed has decreased from the previous Rp. 8,000 per kg to Rp. 5,300 per kilogram," said Zulkifli Hasan quoting Antara.

He said the decline in corn prices as the main ingredient for animal feed occurred because several corn-producing areas had started to harvest regularly.

"Now the price of corn has started to fall, because some areas have been harvested but it has not yet been harvested. If this corn can decrease, the hope is that animal feed will also decrease. So eggs and chicken meat can also lose prices," he said again.

He explained that the increase in corn prices in recent times occurred due to a decline in production, due to the long dry season at the end of 2023.

"The production is a bit lower because of El Nino, but it will soon be the main harvest. And earlier it was checked at the traditional market, the price of eggs was already Rp. 30,000 per kg from Rp. 32,000 per kg, because the feed price was starting to fall," he also said.

According to him, ahead of Ramadan, it is hoped that the price of chicken eggs and chicken meat can gradually stabilize.

The response to the decline in the price of animal feed corn was said by the Head of the South Sumatra Regional for the Pokphand Livestock feed Company, Hadi Widajad.

"Earlier, the supply of corn was reduced, so it had an impact on the increase in local corn prices ranging from Rp1,000-Rp 1,500 per kilogram, so the price of corn became Rp. 8,000-Rp. 9,500 per kilogram," said Hadi Widajad.

He said that but currently the price of corn has begun to decline to Rp5,300 per kg, so the price of animal feed can also go down.

"Because 50 percent of the composition of animal feed is corn, when the price goes up, feed goes up too. With this decrease in corn prices, at least feed prices can go down and the cost of goods sold at farmers can go down, so that the price of eggs in the community can also go down," he said again.

He explained that the animal feed company has a production capacity of 50 thousand-55 thousand tons, and can absorb local corn from Lampung and its surroundings as much as 50 percent or around 20 thousand-25 thousand tons.

"The capacity we have in this factory is able to absorb farmers' corn up to 20 thousand-25 thousand tons. Usually absorption is carried out in various corn-producing districts in Lampung, because here is a corn-producing area," he said again.