Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — The prices of chicken are expected to drop by 10 percent in the next two weeks. Poultry prices will fall to the same level before the sudden increase a few months ago, according to industry sources. They said the prices will likely move lower despite a sharp rebound in the past two months. Sales representatives and retailers say the prices of poultry products, including chicken, will only go down gradually unlike the spontaneous hike. They said the prices of imported chicken that had jumped across the board in the past four months would remain unchanged unless local companies increase their production of chilled and frozen chicken. Prices of imported frozen chicken had risen by up to 40 percent recently. Attiya, a sales representative for one of the local companies, said he did not yet notice any remarkable change in prices in the market, adding that the prices are still high. He however said a number of poultry companies are in the process of reducing the prices by 5 percent effective next week and that the drop will be gradual before they reach the normal levels. Murtada, a retailer for a leading national poultry company, said his company promised to increase its production to bring down prices of imported frozen chicken. Consumers said the decisions taken by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry have not helped in reducing the prices so far. A rise in prices of chicken is normal during the Haj and Eid Al-Adha season because of high demand, but this year the increase was unprecedented. And it was attributed to a drop in production by local farms.
