Iranian government has decided to import 120,000 tons of chicken at the exchange rate of 42,000 rials per dollar.
The decision, which came after a significant rise in chicken prices in recent months, is aimed at meeting domestic demand, Fars News Agency reported.
Latest data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show a total of 472,700 tons of poultry meat were produced at Iran’s official slaughterhouses in the fourth quarter of last Iranian year (Dec. 21, 2020-March 20).
Chicken accounted for 461,600 tons or 97.6% of the overall production while turkey, quail, ostrich and partridge amounted to 11,100 tons or 2.4% of the overall poultry output during the period under review.
The average weight of each chicken supplied in Q4 stood at 1.9 kg, turkey 9.1 kg, quail 0.3 kg and other types of poultry weighed an average of 1.6 kg.
According to Hassan Abbasi Maroufan, Government Trading Corporation of Iran's commercial affairs deputy, per capita consumption of chicken in Iran is 28 kilograms per year, which shows that overall consumption amounts to 2.2 million tons.
Statistics by the Agriculture Ministry show more than 2.5 million tons of chicken was produced and supplied to the market in the last fiscal year (March 2020-21), IRNA reported.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Morteza Rezaie recently said chicken farmers’ failure to supply broiler chicken older than 50 days at government-mandated prices amounts to hoarding and so punishable by not only a fine, but also denial of access to the ministry’s websites for seeking subsidized poultry feed.