Beef price drop ripples through protein mkt

After beef prices declined by around Tk 200 per kg, prices of other alternative protein sources such as eggs, broiler chicken, and fish have been on a decline over the last one and a half weeks across the country.
Egg prices have fallen by 21 per cent in the last four weeks, according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), as the latest price is a one-and-a-half-year low.
Broiler chicken prices have also declined, with prices falling to Tk 155-165 a kg on Monday from Tk 175-190 a kg earlier. The current price is also a 20-month low, according to TCB data.
Cultured fish prices have also declined, with prices falling by Tk 50-80 a kg in the last two weeks.
Traders say that a number of factors have contributed to the decline in prices, including a month-long blockade in phases, a decline in beef prices and a drop in sales amid higher inflationary pressure.
The government fixed the maximum retail price of eggs at Tk 12 a piece in September this year, for the first time in the country's history. The price was Tk 13-14 a piece in the local market at the time.
The authorities later allowed egg imports to control the domestic market. Since then, the price of eggs has started falling gradually.
Beef prices have declined in recent weeks, with prices falling to Tk 500-650 a kg across the country. This is a decline of more than Tk 200 a kg.
Traders say that the sale of beef has increased in recent times as many people have started to buy the item who almost stopped purchasing red meat due to its high price of Tk 800-850 a kg.
According to traders at Sadeq Khan Agricultural Market and Tejgaon Egg Market in Dhaka, farm-level prices of brown eggs have dropped to Tk 9.00 a piece while white eggs have fallen to Tk 8.50 a piece.
Retail prices are also lower, with brown eggs being sold at Tk 10.5-11 and white eggs at Tk 9.80-10 per piece.
Ansar Alam, an egg trader at Tejgaon in the city, said that big poultry corporates had started reducing prices after the import announcement.
Importers, however, are unlikely to bring eggs into the country at the moment, as their cost would be around Tk 10 per piece, higher than the farm-level prices, according to Alam.
Tejgaon Egg Traders Association President Mohammad Amanat Ullah said that a drop in beef prices had impacted the overall protein market.
Ariful Hasan, a fish trader at Mohammadpur Agricultural Market, said the blockade as well as the drop in sales forced prices of cultured fish downtrend.
He said pangas prices dropped to Tk 120-130 a kg at the farm level from Tk 170-175 two weeks back.

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