The prices of poultry items have increased by 30 percent in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi during the last one week, which creates huge volatility in the market. According to the market survey conducted by APP here Monday, during last week in the twin cities, a 40 percent increase was witnessed in the price of chicken in the last couple of months, while as same as 30 percent increase in the price of poultry eggs. According to the survey, the price of live chicken in the twin cities was between Rs 415 and 420 per kg from the last three days of this month of February. Similarly, chicken meat is sold at Rs 690 to 700 per kg in the market of both cities. During this time, it was also found that poultry eggs used to be sold at Rs. 282 to Rs. 290 per dozen in the market of both cities. Meanwhile, talking to APP, Chairman Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA), Chaudhry Ashraf said the increase in the current prices of poultry is due to demand and supply issues. He said that the increase in poultry business inputs and cost of doing business was seen across the country due to which the market was in crisis. He said that many people related to the chicken business in the country were affected by the current crisis and especially small businesses and poultry farms were closed, adding the poultry business in the four provinces including Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is suffering from the current economic crisis. Chaudhry Ashraf said that the country’s economic conditions are also an important issue and the poultry feed ingredients imported from foreign countries are very expensive, in which soybean is important. He said that many soybean ships have stopped at Karachi port, which has an inevitable impact on poultry prices. Pakistan Poultry Association (PPA) has also called for a further increase in the prices of chicken and there was an increase observed in the prices of poultry items in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. On this occasion, poultry feed industrialist and Senior Vice President of Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hamza Sarosh said that soybean is included in the basic ingredients of poultry feed. He said that at present, the import of soybeans has stopped and several ships of soybeans are stopped at Karachi port and one ship has been released yet. Hamza said that soybeans for poultry feed were imported from America, Brazil and Argentina. Speaking to APP, former chairman PPA Khalil Sattar said that chicken feed ingredients were being imported which is increasing the cost of doing business. Due to this demand and supply issue, the prices of poultry have been continuously increasing, he said.