Indonesia looks to Singapore to offload its surplus chickens

Indonesia produces 55 million to 60 million birds per week, with a surplus of around 15-20 per cent after domestic consumption, according to officials

Singapore needs to import live chickens to keep its domestic slaughterhouses operational after neighbouring Malaysia restricted exports earlier this month

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Hens look out from a coop at a chicken farm in Aceh Besar. Indonesia produces between 55 million to 60 million chickens per week. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 5:02pm, 20 Jun 2022Updated: 10:07am, 21 Jun 2022

Indonesian authorities hope to reach an agreement with Singapore to start exporting chickens within weeks, officials said, as the city state scrambles to find alternative supply sources after Malaysia restricted sales.

In a further sign of growing global food shortages and supply chain issues, Malaysia halted chicken exports this month until local production and soaring costs stabilise.

The move had a knock-on impact in Singapore with restaurants and street stalls hiking prices of its de facto national dish, chicken rice.

Susiwijono Moegiarso, a senior official at Indonesia’s Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, said authorities had conducted “technical discussions” with Singapore and hoped exports could start this month.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a statement it was “working closely” with Indonesian authorities over accreditation of the country as a potential source of chicken imports.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest and most populous country with more than 270 million people, currently has a surplus in chicken production.