Tunisia Poultry Output Falls to 11,000 Tonnes a Month as Supply Tightens
Tunisia’s monthly poultry-meat production has fallen from 16,000 tonnes to about 11,000 tonnes, reducing volumes available to the domestic market. Industry representative Ibrahim Nefzaoui said the decline has not developed into a general shortage, while consumer prices stand at 8.950 dinars per kilogram.
Monthly production drops by 5,000 tonnes
Tunisia’s poultry market is facing tighter domestic availability after monthly production of poultry meat fell from 16,000 tonnes to approximately 11,000 tonnes, according to Ibrahim Nefzaoui, president of the National Chamber of Poultry and White Meat Traders.
The reduction amounts to 5,000 tonnes per month, or just over 31% of the earlier production level. The contraction has caused a relative decline in the quantities of poultry meat available on the Tunisian market, according to a report published by AllAfrica.
Nefzaoui, speaking to Tunisia’s national radio on September 2, said the lower production level did not constitute a crisis. He also rejected concerns that the country was facing a generalized poultry shortage. His comments indicate that products remain available, although the smaller monthly supply is placing pressure on the market.
The report did not specify the reasons for the production decline or indicate how long output is expected to remain near 11,000 tonnes. It also did not provide figures for poultry inventories, consumption, imports or expected production in subsequent months. Those variables will determine whether the current tightening remains manageable or develops into a more serious availability problem.
Consumer price reaches 8.950 dinars per kilogram
The decline in production is occurring alongside a gap between supplier and retail prices. Nefzaoui said poultry meat was being sold to consumers at 8.950 Tunisian dinars per kilogram, compared with a supplier price of 7.900 dinars per kilogram.
That represents a difference of 1.050 dinars per kilogram between the two reported price points. The consumer price is approximately 13% above the supplier price, based on the figures cited by Nefzaoui. AllAfrica reported that reduced monthly production was exerting pressure on available supply, even though the industry representative said conditions had not reached crisis level.
For producers, processors and distributors, the central issue is whether production can stabilize before the reduced flow of poultry meat causes further strain across the domestic supply chain. The reported figures establish the scale of the output loss, but they do not show how evenly the decline is being felt among regions, retailers or different segments of the poultry industry.
Industry stresses food-safety controls
Nefzaoui also sought to reassure consumers about the sanitary safety of white meat sold in Tunisia. He said services operated by the National Authority for the Sanitary Safety of Food Products, known as INSSPA, inspect shops specializing in white-meat sales every day.
The food-safety assurance is separate from the question of supply volume, but it addresses another potential source of concern for consumers during a period of reduced market availability. No specific sanitary incident was reported in the source material, and Nefzaoui presented the daily inspections as evidence that marketed products remain subject to official oversight.
The immediate outlook therefore rests on two contrasting signals: poultry production has undergone a substantial monthly decline, while industry representatives maintain that the market is not experiencing a general shortage. Prices, product availability and any recovery or further contraction in monthly output will be the main indicators of whether that assessment continues to hold.
