Poultry Losses to Be Put at SR1.3bn

RIYADH, 8 March 2004 — Poultry producers are to announce losses between SR1 billion and SR1.3 billion over the past five years as a result of imports. At a seminar yesterday the producers were to demand compensation of SR3 per kilo of imported chicken, 400,000 tons of which enter the country every year. Agriculture Minister Dr. Fahd Balghanaim will host the seminar, which seeks to explore solutions to the problems facing the sector. The French government subsidizes chicken exports to Saudi Arabia to the tune of $600 per ton, according to Dr Muhammad Al-Derbi, director of the poultry producers committee. The Ministry of Commerce is waiting for the Shoura Council to discuss a possible import duty, he added.