Wholesale prices for poultry could rise by as much as HK$10 a catty (600 grams) during the Mid-Autumn Festival next week as local farmers withhold stocks following a partial ban on poultry from Guangdong.

Health chief York Chow Yat-ngok announced on Monday a three-week ban on poultry and egg imports from farms within a 24km radius of Xinzao town, in Panyu district.

Hong Kong Poultry Wholesalers Association chairman Tsui Ming-tuen said New Territories chicken farmers had already reduced supplies. He said they were saving their stock for the festive period, when a rise in demand could see wholesale prices surge by as much as HK$10 a catty from the usual HK$17 a catty.