Eggs, chicken may turn costlier by 30% by December as poultry feed prices soar

Pune: Prices of eggs and chicken are expected to jump 25-30% by December as the costs of poultry feed like maize and broken rice have surged by 30-45% in the last one month from a year ago.

Prices of maize and broken rice have doubled over the last year. With traders and farmers hoarding maize, the maize-based industry expects the prices to carry the rally into December.

Maize prices, which were around ₹18/kg last year, have increased to ₹34/kg today, while a month ago, they were around ₹26-27/kg. The industry is worried that the prices may touch ₹40/kg by December as the supply chain intermediaries tend to hoard the commodity expecting the prices to rise.


Prices of broken rice, which were ₹14-15/kg around November 2025 are at ₹31-32/kg now. They were around ₹22-23/kg a month ago, trade data showed.

According to industry estimates, the deficient monsoon in key kharif maize growing states of Maharashtra and Karnataka is expected to pull down the country's kharif maize production by 15-16%.

"Earlier, whenever prices of maize and rice increased, we used to shift to other cereals like jowar, bajra, ragi etc. However, even these cereals are expensive to use in poultry feed now," said KG Anand, general manager of Venkateshwara Hatcheries. The wholesale egg prices, around ₹6-7/egg at present, are expected to increase to ₹7-8/egg by December, while the wholesale price of without skin dressed chicken is expected to increase from ₹225-250/kg to ₹260-275/kg by December, said top industry executives.

"Although the increase in production costs has been high, we cannot pass the entire increase in costs to the consumers," said Anand.

The months of December and January are peak consumption months for the poultry industry as demand spikes between Christmas and New Year celebrations.

"This year, we are expecting the production to fall by more than 20% during December and January as farmers are likely to sell younger birds in order to reduce the cost of feeding them," said Anand.

Maize prices have been continuously moving upwards as the diversion of maize for ethanol has increased, while rice prices have been increasing as the deficient monsoon is expected to reduce production of the kharif paddy crop.