Nineteen poultry feed mills in Pakistan involved in collusion for egg and chicken prices, country’s competition committee disclosed.

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) revealed that 19 poultry feed companies were involved in price coordination which led to repeated increase in prices of chicken and eggs, a local newspaper reported. The CCP inquiry revealed that between December 2018 and December 2020, the feed mills colluded to raise the poultry feed prices. The CCP inquiry team also took support from the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) for September 2020 which showed increase in the chicken prices. The rise in these prices coincided with an increase in feed prices. In February 2021, the CCP raided two major poultry feed producers and impounded crucial evidence pointing towards price change coordination among the feed companies. The impounded record revealed that officials of 19 feed mills were using an active WhatsApp group where one feed producer would announce its intended price increase and the rest expressing and sharing their willingness to follow suit. The inquiry also found that mills carried out price changes between December 2018 and December 2020 in a coordinated manner in short intervals at least 11 times. In addition, the data revealed that not only were price revisions made on the exact dates, but the amounts of price change were also similar.