Egg prices rise again amid short supply after chicken deaths in heatwave

The price of eggs in the markets of the capital city has gone up by Tk20 in a week.

Traders said the price rise is due to a short supply of eggs following the mass deaths of chickens in many poultry farms across the country during the severe heatwave in April. 

Visits to various kitchen markets in the capital's Shahjadpur, Badda, Tejgaon, Hatirpool and Karwan Bazar on Tuesday revealed that at the retail level, brown eggs of broiler chicken were selling for Tk135-140 per dozen and white eggs were at Tk125-130, while eggs of home-reared hens were at Tk240-250 and duck eggs at Tk180-190.

A week ago, the price of brown eggs was Tk115-120 a dozen, while white eggs were at Tk105-110.

Md Kabir Hossain, proprietor of Dewan General Store in Shahjadpur came to buy eggs from Karwan Bazar.

The shop owner told The Business Standard that last week he bought every 100 pieces of eggs at Tk900-950, which has now increased to Tk1,100.

Md Saiful Islam, an egg seller at Karwan Bazar, told TBS that earlier he used to receive around 3,000-3,500 pieces of eggs every day. But now the supply has dwindled to 2,000-2,500 pieces.

"The supply of eggs has decreased. The price is also high," he said.

According to the Tejgaon Egg Traders Multipurpose Cooperative Society, egg prices began to go up at the beginning of May. On Tuesday, the wholesale price of brown eggs went up to Tk1,030 for every 100 pieces, while the price of white eggs increased to Tk970.

Earlier, every 100 pieces of brown eggs was priced at Tk880 and white eggs at Tk800.

Md Hanif Mia, General Secretary of Tejgaon Egg Traders Multipurpose Cooperative Society, told TBS that the per day supply of eggs from farmers has declined by around 1-1.5 lakh pieces to around 13.5-14 lakhs. 

He said the short supply may continue for the next few months, adding, "Egg supply will increase once the production at farm level returns to normal."

According to poultry organisations, egg production in the farms has decreased by 4-10% due to the intense heat wave last month. In addition, 5-8% of layer chickens have died.

However, acknowledging that egg production has decreased following the loss of chickens in May, Bangladesh Poultry Association President Md Sumon Howlader said, "Taking advantage of this situation, traders are making profit by increasing the rate, depriving marginal farmers of a fair price."

Estimates by the Department of Livestock Resources, Bangladesh Poultry Industries Association and other related organisations show that per day loss stands at Tk4-5 crore due to the fall in egg production. In addition, due to layer chickens being lost during the heatwave last month, losses per day at farms were around Tk288 crore.

Taher Ahmed Siddiqui, President of Bangladesh Egg Producers Association, told TBS that prices of eggs have increased slightly due to a short supply. The prices will come down once supply returns to normal.