The poultry surplus — while great for consumers — is creating serious challenges for producers. Chicken is trading at EGP 65 per kg — roughly 7% below the EGP 68-70 cost of production, Egyptian Poultry Association (EPA) President Mahmoud El Anani tells EnterpriseAM. While that means consumers will see the cheapest Ramadan poultry and eggs in two years (with prices down 30-35% year-on-year), it has pushed the industry into a supply glut that producers tell us is unsustainable.

But the good news for consumers may be short lived, with breeders potentially stopping future production cycles if the “bleeding” continues, leading to a sudden price spike later down the line, El Anani told us.

The escape hatch? Exports. The EPA has submitted an urgent memo to Agriculture Minister Alaa Farouk — seen by EnterpriseAM — calling for an immediate push to open export markets in seven African nations, including Ghana, Kenya, and Ivory Coast. The industry has reached 100% self-sufficiency and is currently sitting on a 20% production surplus, which if sold abroad could help raise prices locally so producers can break even.

Some relief may soon come from Saudi Arabia, with a meeting set to take place with officials from the Kingdom to discuss their import needs, El Anani said.

It’s also in the state’s financial interests, argues El Anani, pointing to the promotion of poultry exports as a way to turn the sector from a net consumer of hard currency through feed imports to a source of hard currency coming into the country.

But any move to begin exporting Egyptian chicken is going to require the necessary logistics infrastructure, as raw chicken — as anyone who’s left chicken out to defrost a little too long knows only too well — needs proper refrigeration to not spoil. To export to Africa, Egypt needs the necessary cold storage infrastructure and support, we were told.

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