Indonesia Ministry of Agriculture declared that domestic poultry companies are now able to export their products to Singapore. Latest news reported that the first shipment of 50,000kg of frozen chicken from Indonesia has already arrived in Singapore on 13 July.
This development comes after Singapore announced on 30 June that it has added Indonesia as a new source for the import of chilled, frozen and processed chicken. According to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA), 3 companies from Indonesia were given permission to export chicken meat and chicken meat products into the country. They include 2 Indonesian subsidiaries of Thailand-based food conglomerate Charoen Pokphand, while the other is a subsidiary of Indonesian frozen food giant Japfa Comfeed.
Meanwhile, there are 12 other Indonesian companies which are currently seeking permission to export chicken products to Singapore. All applications have been submitted to the SFA for audit.
According to the Ministry estimate, Indonesia’s chicken meat production in 2022 is expected to reach 5.9 million tonnes, while domestic demand for chicken meat is estimated to be 5.3 million tonnes this year. This means that there will be an average monthly surplus or oversupply of more than 50,000 tonnes.
Indonesia exported only around 500 tonnes of chicken last year mainly to its neighbouring country, Timor Leste. With the new agreement with Singapore, it will open up new market opportunities for poultry producers in the country.
The decision to allow Indonesian export of chicken to Singapore is attributed to the recent ban of exports of chicken by Malaysia, which is Singapore’s largest supplier of chicken at 214,400 tonnes. Before the ban, Malaysia supplied 34% of Singapore’s chicken consumption demand. Recently, Malaysia has lifted the ban for kampung and black chicken, however the broiler chicken which is the most popular item in demand, is still banned.
Alvino Antonio Warjiantono, Chairman of Indonesia’s National People’s Farmers Association said Singapore’s move to add Indonesia as a source for chicken meat will boost international market confidence in Indonesian chicken products. However, Indonesian suppliers will face problem in competing with its Malaysian counterparts when come to price of chicken in the event when the ban is lifted in the future.
Singapore also imported chicken parts and products from Brazil, Thailand and Australia.
Indonesia has never sold chickens to Singapore before, as such this is a historical moment for the poultry industry. There are also plans by several producers in Indonesia to build a new poultry farm in Batam to supply Singapore with fresh broiler chicken, if demand from Singapore continues to be strong. Batam is located just 30 minutes away from Singapore by ship, and this could pose a real challenge to Malaysia’s poultry suppliers across the causeway in the near future.
