THE bird’s nest stockpile is mounting

THE bird’s nest stockpile is mounting despite China lifting the ban to import it from Malaysia last month.
Export of the delicacy had yet to resume and traders are hoping that things would start moving soon.
Perak Bird’s Nest Merchants Association president Chaw Soo Peoh said operators had kept their stock since the ban in 2011 because it had also affected the local prices badly.
“The ban saw local prices for grade A unprocessed bird’s nest plunging from RM4,000 per kg to between RM1,200 and RM1,500 per kg in the local market.
Many decided to stockpile their produce and keep them for their own consumption.
Prices remained unchanged despite the announcement on the lifting of the ban,” Chaw told The Star.
It was reported that China is the biggest importer of Malaysia’s bird’s nest products, before the ban, with an annual trading value of about RM1bil.
The ban was imposed when samples from blood-red bird’s nests were found to contain nitrite levels that did not meet China’s health standards.

Difficult times: A birdhouse operator harvesting bird’s nest. — Filepic

The Malaysian government intervened and held a series of discussions with China, which led to the ban being lifted after two years in June this year.
On Monday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that 11 Malaysian companies were given special approval to export the delicacy to China.
Najib stated that these companies only involved 5% of the industry in Malaysia and the government was in the midst of negotiating for the remaining 95%.
Chaw told The Star that until 1kg of bird’s nest had been successfully exported to China, the industry would not improve despite the announcements.

Waiting to be cleared: A pile of unprocessed and unsorted bird’s nest after
harvesting. – Filepic

“Perak has over 10,000 bird houses and over 10 swiftlet associations. All of us have been affected by the ban,” he said.
North Perak Bird’s Nest Association vice president Yeap Thean Eng from Taiping echoed Chaw’s sentiments, adding that it would take a few months for the stockpile to be cleared before any price increase could be seen.
“Once prices increase to RM2,000 per kg for grade A unprocessed bird’s nest, it would then be viable for all operators to earn sufficient profit and even expand their operations.

Many of these operators have borrowed money to set up their bird houses and many
have chosen to cash out. — Yeap Thean Eng 

“At the moment, we are still facing difficulty in selling our stocks at profitable levels because the middleman and wholesalers would prevent the prices from increasing as much as possible to maximise their profits,” he said.
Yeap said the ban had caused many operators to lose money during the two years as they could not sustain the operational costs or make profit.
“Many of these operators have borrowed money to set up their bird houses and many have chosen to cash out.
“For operators who are rich, they just chose to hold on and hoped for the best,” he said.