Singapore’s chicken supply stable; more chilled chicken brought in from other sources
Singapore’s chicken supply remains stable, with more chilled and frozen chicken products from alternative sources expected in the coming weeks, said Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan on Saturday (Jun 4).
Giving an update on the situation days after Malaysia imposed its ban on chicken exports, Tan said authorities have been working closely with the industry to import chilled chicken from other sources beyond Malaysia.
“For instance, this is a newly arrived batch of chilled chicken from Australia,” he said in a Facebook video set against a backdrop of chillers and shelves stocked with chicken products in a supermarket.
“One of our food distributors has also secured a deal to increase his imports of chilled chickens from Thailand by up to 10 times,” Tan noted.
“Singaporeans can expect more supplies of both chilled chicken from Australia and Thailand, as well as frozen chicken from sources like Brazil and the US in the coming weeks.”
About one-third of Singapore’s chicken imports in 2021 were from Malaysia. Almost all of these were brought in as live chickens which were slaughtered and chilled in Singapore.
Other major sources of chicken include Brazil and the United States.
Malaysia’s export ban of up to 3.6 million chickens per month has affected wet market stallholder and some eateries in Singapore as they grapple with a supply shortage and rising prices.
Chicken prices had already increased over the past two months. According to data from the Singapore Department of Statistics, the average price for a whole chilled chicken was S$7.21 per kg in April this year, up from S$6.60 per kg in March.
The price of chilled chicken wings also rose from S$8.75 per kg in March to S$9.45 per kg in April.
According to a director at an F&B firm, prices went up by S$0.50 per kg when the Malaysia export ban was announced, and then by another S$0.30 a few days ago.
On Saturday, Tan noted that Singapore will continue to face disruptions in its food supply from time to time.
“We may not fully mitigate these disruptions, but I’m confident that we can get through these occasional disruptions by working together closely,” he added.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES