Retail prices of chicken have hit the roof in the city markets. The soaring prices of white meat are due to supply the shortage caused by an escalation in the costs of production and transportation of chicken feeds, according to traders.

Retail prices of dressed chicken in several city markets have crossed the double century mark and ranges between Rs 210 to Rs 230 or even going up to Rs 240 in some pockets. Similarly, in the city’s adjoining areas, prices of
lean meat has seen a hike of at least Rs 20/kg.

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The chicken traders in the city said that the hike in the retails prices was because of the rising wholesale market rates. There is a requirement of about three lakh metric tonnes of chicken feed per year in the state, according to West Bengal Poultry Federation sources.

While a share of the required feed is procured locally, the larger part of the total quantity is brought from other states of the country. Of the staple chicken feed items including groundnut cake, mustard cake, maize and so on, soybean supplied by Maharashtra has witnessed a sharp increase in prices in the recent past.

Also, there has been an increase of about 250 per cent in the prices of soybean feeds in the past months. “In addition, the overall prices of all the feeds have increased by almost 70 per cent. Of the total 70 per cent, around 10 per cent hike has been caused by the skyrocketing fuel prices affecting the transportation costs,” said West Bengal Poultry and Egg Federation general secretary, Madan Mohan Maity.

According to the general secretary, stocks of feeds from other states are likely to be received in November and fresh crops in West Bengal are also expected to be available by then. “The chicken prices could go higher in the next few weeks or keep fluctuating till a fresh stock is available in the month of November,” added Maity.