Major chicken producers including Harim and Maniker have raised prices supplied to large supermarkets and distributors by approximately 10%, as the spread of avian influenza (AI) since November last year takes its toll. The industry warns that supply prices could rise again if the fallout from Middle East instability materializes further.
According to retail and food industry sources on the 29th, chicken producers such as Harim, its affiliate Olpum, and Maniker raised wholesale chicken prices to large supermarkets by 5 to 10 percent by cut early this month. Chicken wholesale prices had previously risen by 1 to 2 percent annually due to higher labor and feed costs, but a single adjustment exceeding 5 percent is the first in three years since 2023. As a result of the latest increase, consumer chicken prices at supermarkets have risen approximately 10 percent from a year ago on a regular-price basis.
The direct cause is a surge in culling of breeding stock due to highly pathogenic avian influenza. Breeding stock refers to parent chickens that produce broilers raised for meat. From late last year to the present, the number of breeding stock culled during the winter season due to highly pathogenic AI has reached 440,000, a 3.5-fold increase from 120,000 during the same winter period a year earlier. "There were large-scale cullings and movement restriction orders, which created supply shortages and pushed up live chicken prices," a Harim official said. "The decline in the won's value has also raised the cost of imported feed."
The industry is concerned about the possibility of further wholesale price hikes given the rising trend in feed costs. If the won-dollar exchange rate continues to hover above 1,500 won and shipping freight rates keep climbing, feed prices — which depend on imports — will rise in tandem. "The oil price and exchange rate factors behind this increase were based on January-February levels," a large supermarket official said. "Considering that the sharp rise in oil prices and the exchange rate began in earnest this month, upward pressure on supply prices for chicken and other meats is only intensifying."
