HIBAPRESS – Abdellatif Baraka
Moroccan markets have witnessed a noticeable decline in chicken prices in recent days, especially the turkey variety, whose price has fallen to 12 dirhams per kilogram at wholesale, while it reached 17 dirhams retail in some local shops and markets.
This decline is primarily due to the abundance of production by breeders on farms, which created a surplus in supply compared to demand, and prompted traders to lower prices to dispose of the available quantities.
In contrast, the price of local chicken remains stable at 60 dirhams per kilogram, the price it has maintained for a while, given its local nature and the difficulty of raising it compared to other types of poultry.
Other types of chicken also recorded relatively low prices, as the price of "Maradona" and "Tawsia" chicken reached about 13 dirhams per kilogram in the wholesale markets.
A number of poultry traders believe that the behavior of the Moroccan consumer plays an essential role in price fluctuations, stressing that "when the price is low, the citizen buys large quantities, which may reach 10 chickens at once", which leads to a sudden increase in demand and thus pushes prices up again.
In this context, professionals have called for the need to establish a balance between supply and demand, and to organize the market in a way that ensures price stability, especially in light of the increasing production and the absence of modern storage and distribution mechanisms in some areas.
With the approach of winter, citizens are waiting to see how poultry prices will develop, with hopes that they will remain at their low levels to ease the burden on the purchasing power of Moroccan families.
