More frozen chicken from Indonesia expected in August, first shipment delivered to distributor

SINGAPORE: More frozen chicken from Indonesia is set to arrive in Singapore next month, after the first batch containing 50 tonnes of frozen chicken was shipped here last week.

The first shipment of products – comprising two containers of chicken – was supplied by Charoen Pokphand Indonesia (CPI) under a new arrangement for Indonesian companies to export chicken to Singapore.

The containers left Jakarta on Jul 13 and arrived in Singapore on Jul 17.

The shipment was delivered to Leong Hup Distribution’s fully automated warehouse at Fishery Port Road on Thursday (Jul 21), with the poultry scheduled to hit the market in one or two days, said Mr Alfred Leek, Leong Hup’s procurement director.

He said that the company has ordered five more containers of chicken, with delivery expected in August and September. Each container weighs 25 tonnes.

As the frozen chicken from Indonesia is larger and heavier, at about 2.2kg, compared with frozen chicken from Brazil and Argentina, Mr Leek said he expects to sell them to chicken rice hawkers and other businesses, rather than to supermarkets.

CPI has a contract to supply 1,000 tonnes of chicken meat to Singapore until the end of the year. The contract is valued between 30 billion rupiah (US$2 million) and 40 billion rupiah, CPI’s president director Thomas Effendi told CNA last week.

The shipments from Indonesia come after the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) announced on Jun 30 that it had approved Indonesia as new source for chicken imports. This provided an additional source market after Malaysia banned exports of chicken in May to ensure sufficient supply for its domestic market.

Before the export ban, Singapore received about 34 per cent of its chicken imports from Malaysia, almost all of which were brought in as live chickens that were then slaughtered and chilled locally.

More than 20 countries are accredited to export chicken to Singapore, including Brazil, Thailand and Australia.

According to SFA, Singapore imported 214,400 tonnes of chicken in 2021.