Malaysia’s chicken export ban: will PM Ismail Sabri’s latest move really lower domestic poultry prices?

Kuala Lumpur’s decision to stop exporting the birds at the end of the month is being questioned by many

Ukraine war has interrupted supply chains, led to increase in chicken feed prices, while many subsidies for struggling producers have not been paid

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Chickens in a crate at a poultry farm in Malaysia on Wednesday. The nation is to stop exporting the birds from June 1 to try to improve its domestic supply. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:30am, 26 May 2022Updated: 2:48pm, 26 May 2022

Beset by a dwindling supply of poultry products after months of stifling price increases that have angered the public, Malaysia’s decision to stop exporting chickens by the end of May has left many wondering if the move will reap any major benefit and caused alarm in neighbouring Singapore, where chicken rice is a national dish.

The decision to halt, for now, the outward flow of some 3.6 million birds a month to have more available for the domestic market was announced on Monday by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob after an urgent cabinet meeting aimed at tackling the rising cost of everyday goods.

“The government’s priority is our own people,” said Ismail, who has been peddling the phrase “Malaysian family” since taking power in August last year.

A worker uses a forklift to load crates of chickens onto a truck at a poultry farm in Selangor, Malaysia, on Wednesday. Photo: Bloomberg

Around the world, governments are taking to food protectionism to secure local supplies and battle rising costs, stoked in part by supply shocks caused by the war in Ukraine.

As well as Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Japan and Hong Kong are also likely to be affected by Malaysia’s chicken export ban.

While many have praised Kuala Lumpur’s ban as “firm” – including one local newspaper calling Ismail a “hero emerging at a time of dire public need” – economists are not convinced that holding on to its chickens will solve the nation’s shortage.

Some suppliers have been rationing chickens in the meantime.

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