Morocco’s Poultry Industry Suffers $300 Million Loss Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

The poultry sector in Morocco has been severely affected by the health crisis of the coronavirus, with a drop of more than 50% in demand for the main poultry products (chicken and turkey meat, eggs), mainly due to the total shutdown of hotel and restaurant activities, reports La Vie Eco, the director of FISA, who describes the situation as "catastrophic".

Another reason cited is the drop in purchasing power due to the many job losses recorded since the beginning of the crisis in Morocco.

"As of June 16, the price of broiler chicken, 7.5 DH at the farm gate, has fallen to 6 DH at the wholesale market. From 75 cents before the crisis, the price of eggs has fallen to 58 cents," says Chaouki Jerrari, who added that the selling price of live turkey has also fallen by 30% to 10 DH in three months.

As for chick production, it has fallen from 10 to 7.5 million units per week. Activity in slaughterhouses, directly linked to the restaurant sector, has also declined by 50%.

According to the National Association of Poultry Meat Producers (ANPVV), the situation in the poultry meat sector is critical. Its losses are estimated at a total of 1.5 billion DH, not counting those of other segments such as eggs, meat transportation, slaughterhouse processing, and compound feed.

Farmers are the real losers in this crisis, as they have been left to their own devices, unlike companies in the sector such as slaughterhouse operators, animal feed factories and processing plants, which can benefit from the measures put in place by the Economic Monitoring Committee (CVE).