The highly pathogenic strain of bird flu that is rapidly spreading throughout the country has led to a decrease in sales of chicken.

Sales of chicken declined 15.4 percent on-year during the first 15 days of December following the H5N6 avian influenza outbreak, according to South Korea’s largest discount retail chain E-mart.

This is in contrast to the 6.1 percent on-year sales increase recorded between January and November at the stores.

Sales of other poultry, such as duck, plunged 17.2 percent, in the same time period, which is a change from the 16 percent sales hike seen between January and November.

A decrease in chicken consumption has led to a rise in demand for imported pork.

Sales of imported pork at E-mart rose 8.7 percent on-year between January and November, and marked a striking surge by 84.5 percent in the first three weeks of this month.

Another protein substitute, fish, is also in demand as a result of the spreading bird flu.

Spanish mackerel and dried yellow croaker recorded sales hikes of 11.5 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively.
 

Meanwhile, markdown on chicken was seen to be another result of bird flu.

According to Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade, on Tuesday, a kilogram of chicken sold at 5,217 won ($4.40), down 5.9 percent from the yearly average of 5,530 won.

The markdown was a result of oversupply, as suppliers put up more than the average amount of chicken for sale over concerns of a slip in demand, E-mart explained.

In contrast, there has been a stark increase in the price of eggs.

The retail price of a tray of 30 eggs averaged 6,365 won on Friday, up 18.6 percent on-year and 14.5 percent higher than November, the state-run aT said.

At a retail company in Seoul, a tray of eggs were marked at a high of 7,300 won, local reports said.

The agency pointed to the number of slaughtered layer chickens for the price hike.

As of Dec. 18, some 10.6 million layer chickens that were responsible for commercial egg production have been slaughtered, according to aT.

Industry experts project the price of eggs to continue to rise until around the end of January, as the government intensifies quarantine measures to tackle bird flu.

The first outbreak of the virus was reported at a chicken farm in Haenam of South Jeolla Province.

A total of 127 farms have been confirmed with bird flu cases, and a total of 16.58 million ducks and chicken have been culled, as of Sunday, the aT said.

The Agriculture Ministry raised the bird flu warning to the highest level on Saturday. The ministry added that all poultry at the farms with confirmed bird flu cases are being slaughtered, so the meat that is distributed to the markets is safe to eat, particularly as they should be eaten fully cooked. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)