In the United States, eggs are as much a part of breakfast as checkered tablecloths are a part of Bavaria. They are most often fried, sometimes boiled. Scrambled or fried, it doesn't matter - the important thing is that there are eggs. So it should come as no surprise that the rise in the price of chicken eggs has a certain explosive social dimension in the world's largest economy.
Americans are groaning - they've been paying more than $9,22 (€159) for a dozen eggs in the past two weeks as the bird flu outbreak has led to shortages and soaring prices. With prices up XNUMX percent in a year, some stores have started limiting the amount of eggs that can be purchased.
More than 166 million wild and domestic birds have been killed since the start of 2022, when the H5N1 virus outbreak began. This week, the US Department of Agriculture announced that 30 million poultry have been culled since the beginning of the year. That's 12,3 percent of all caged chickens in the US and nearly XNUMX percent of all free-range chickens.
The US government has asked several European countries for help in recent weeks, despite rising trade tensions between the Trump administration and the European Union over punitive tariffs. Washington has also imposed restrictions on European egg imports in the past over fears of the spread of bird flu.
According to media reports, the Americans have established contact with farmers' associations in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, in order to review the possibility of exporting produced surpluses to the USA.
Too many eggs in Europe?
Europe has also been hit by bird flu in the past three years, which has reduced egg supplies across the continent. Poland, Hungary and France have been hit hardest by the outbreak. And in January this year, Portugal also reported an outbreak of bird flu on a farm near Lisbon. The UK has imposed strict measures to contain the disease this year after a suspected case of bird flu was reported in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
Because of all this, the capacity for exporting fresh eggs in most European countries is limited. Hans-Peter Goldnik, president of the German Egg Producers Association, says that although Germany has exported a certain amount of eggs through the free raw food exchange, the volume of these exports is small.
Goldnik told the northern German public broadcaster NDR on March 19 that there was a sufficient supply of eggs for Easter, but he urged Germans to “continue to consume eggs as usual, and not to stockpile them.” He explained that there was no shortage in Germany, but there was also no oversupply. According to official statistics, a quarter of the eggs on sale in 2023 were imported.
A Finnish government official in charge of the industry told the media that Finland could not help anyway because of the restrictions imposed by the US on imports. He added that it would not be any different even after the restrictions were lifted, as with four million layers the country covers its needs and has no surplus. Both Swedish and Danish government officials gave the United States the same answer and the same reasoning.
The European Union is not only limited by the US import restrictions. It is also a logistical problem, due to the brittleness of eggs and the constant need to maintain a uniform temperature during transport. Air transport is expensive, and shipping takes a long time.
Who produces the surplus?
Last month, Reuters reported that Turkey intends to increase its egg exports to the United States. In a bilateral agreement with Washington, Ankara has pledged to export an additional 15.000 tons of eggs. Ibrahim Afyon, the president of the Turkish Egg Producers Association, announced that Turkey will deliver 240 million eggs to the United States by July. That is about six times the amount of Turkey’s total exports to the United States last year. The additional exports will bring Turkey $26 billion (24032970 million euros).
Bloomberg reported in February that Washington was planning to issue import permits to the Netherlands, the world's largest egg producer, to ease shortages in the domestic market. According to sources in the European Union, the plans include both liquid and powdered eggs.
When will the supply stabilize?
Egg prices in the United States fell again in February, due to falling demand and increasing supply. In mid-February, the average price was $8,15 (€7.53), but according to the US Department of Agriculture, it has since halved. However, it may take some time for the price reduction to reach consumers. Demand could increase in the coming months, and the constant outbreak of new cases of bird flu could disrupt production.
It also takes time for the culled birds to be replaced by new ones, the whole process taking four to five months. And after that, production is lower, increasing gradually. Chicken farms need time to get back to pre-outbreak levels. Biosecurity regulations are strict, further slowing the recovery process. In addition, many producers are delaying the breeding of new young layers for fear of new infections. As a result, prices are likely to remain high for a long time, and the shortage of eggs on the open market will persist until at least the end of the year.
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