Price of meat products stable

KATHMANDU, April 5: Despite low demands in the market with the advent of summer season, price of major meat products have yet to go down due to low supply volume, traders said.



Price of chicken has remained stable at Rs 270 per kg for the last few months. If the past record is anything to go by, price of chicken should have gone down during summer as compared to the winter season. [break]



Chicken is selling for Rs 260 per kg in Chitwan, the largest poultry producer in the country, for the last few months. Price of eggs per crate (30 pieces) has reached Rs 190. Prices of poultry product have not gone down in the district despite the outbreak of bird-flu in neighboring Nawalparasi district.



Tika Ram Pokharel, president of Nepal Poultry Entrepreneurs´ Forum, said prices of poultry products have not gone down as the production of chicken and eggs hasn´t gone up due to rise in demands over the years.



“If we see past years´ trend, price of chicken and eggs should have decreased during summer due to high production and low demand. But this hasn´t happened this year,” said Rajendra Lamichhane, central member of Nepal Eggs Producers´ Association. He said the daily supply of eggs hovers around 800,000 units against the demand for more than a million units.



Similarly, price of mutton has also remained stagnant for the last few months despite fall in the arrivals of goats in the capital. Giriraj Basnet, general secretary of Cattle Exchange Service Association, said the supply of goats to the capital has declined to 6,000 to 7,000 heads per week from about 10,000 heads recorded a few weeks back.



Traders said though the supply of goats has declined by about one-third, price has remained unchanged in the market as demand of meat items remains comparatively low during this time of the year. Mutton is currently selling for Rs 500 per kg.



Live goats from India and domestic market have been priced at Rs 275 and Rs 235 per kg respectively. Price of buff has also remained unchanged for the last few months. Buff is selling for Rs 180 to Rs 210 per kg depending on the quality.



(With inputs from Ramesh Kumar Paudel from Chitwan)

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