Prices Of Chicken Eggs And Meat Rise, Minister Of Trade M Lutfi: Don't Exaggerate It

Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi (Photo: Twitter @ Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade, Muhammad Lutfi, asked all parties including the public not to exaggerate the increase in the price of eggs and broilers in the market. This is so that business actors in this sector feel profit in the fasting month after a long loss.

The Ministry of Trade recorded that the average price of purebred chicken is IDR 37,000 per kilogram (kg) as of April 15, 2021. The figure is up from last week or April 8 which was IDR 35,100 per kg and March 15, 2021, which was still IDR 34,200 per kg.

Not only chicken meat, but the price of eggs has also risen to IDR 26,300 per kg as of April 15, 2021. Last week, the price was still IDR 25,400 per kg.

"I ask permission not to discuss the problem of chickens and chicken eggs first. Because the fluctuation is very high and not big businessmen and livestock too. Don't exaggerate it, let them get a lot of profit in the month of Ramadan," he said in a virtual press conference, Friday, April 16th.

Furthermore, Lutfi said, the increase in food prices is still fairly normal if it is still below 3 percent. The increase usually occurs due to seasonality and rainy weather.

"Chicken eggs have high fluctuations in Ramadan, they gain four months in one year, they experience a loss of eight months in one year," he explained.

Even so, Lutfi promised that for next year, there would be better regulations regarding the price of eggs and chicken meat. This is so that the price is more consistent.

Previously, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) monitored the price of food commodities during the first quarter or January to April period, throughout Indonesia, which was divided into 6 working areas. From the monitoring results, at the beginning of Ramadan, there was a very significant increase in prices for eggs and chicken meat.

KPPU Deputy for Studies and Advocacy Taufik Ariyanto said that from working areas I to VI, food commodity prices were observed to have increased by 10 to 30 percent.

"In general, except for beef, chicken, chili, eggs, it is relatively stable. Apart from these commodities, it is (stable) for the first period," he said at the KPPU press conference, Friday, April 16.

However, Taufik said, for several commodities, such as chicken and eggs, there were significant price hikes in the 6 working areas. According to him, several factors have caused food price fluctuations to occur.

"Several factors are suspected to be the cause for chili crop problems, weather factors. Then there is also a logistical problem, where there is some information in the field that states supply constraints. Supply constraints to enter the market are due to flooding, weather factors, and so on," he explained.

Then, said Taufik, another factor is the long and tiered distribution. This is also the focus of KPPU. This is because this factor can cause the price to be asymmetrical. This means that prices at the farm level are stable or falling, but prices at the consumer level actually go up.

Furthermore, Taufik said that the distribution channels that are still tiered and long from farmers to markets to consumers are homework that has not been completed to date.

"This is what we suspect. The suspicion that it occurs in chicken meat and chicken eggs. Where the price of chicken at the downstream level or at the consumer level has increased, but from several reports that we have monitored so far, the price at the farmer level has actually decreased," he said.