Now Even Chicken Is Getting Too Expensive?

Now Even Chicken Is Getting Too Expensive?

International and Arab News

What do you get when three pandemics coincide with a drought? The most expensive chicken we’ve seen in years.

Prices for the world’s most consumed meat have been surging in recent months. Retail whole chickens in the US cost $1.79 per pound in April, the highest price in 15 years of records and about 19% more than their 10-year average. In Thailand, the fourth-biggest exporter after the US, Brazil, and European Union, similar birds last week were at 62.50 baht ($1.82) per kilogram, a one-third increase in six months. Wholesale frozen chickens in Brazil were going for 10.21 reais ($2.12) per kilo May 19, more than double their 10-year average.

There have been some shocking dislocations as a result. Malaysia this week said it would halt exports of the meat by the end of this month to ensure it had sufficient domestic supplies. That’s caused a degree of alarm in land-poor Singapore, which considers Hainanese chicken rice its national dish and depends on its neighbor for a supply of fresh birds. Taiwan went the other way last month, relaxing quarantine restrictions on poultry to increase imports from the US.

In the US, servings of chicken wings are going for twice