The Hindu Business Line : Demand, output cut help push up egg prices

TABLE egg prices, especially in Tamil Nadu, have scaled new high this week. The farm-gate price has hit the Rs 1.50-mark (per egg),, the highest this year in Tamil Nadu.

Sources in the Namakkal-based National Egg Coordination Committee's zonal committee, which fixes the wholesale price for the region, feel that the uptrend in the price may continue till December.

The reasons for the escalation in the prices are surging demand for egg among consumers and the regulated parent birds placement by the hatcheries that has brought down or stabilised laying in recent weeks. Even as the Namakkal zone layer bird producers are trying to restrict the egg production through restricted parent bird releases from hatcheries and early culling of birds by the layer-rearing farmers, the rise in the consumption of eggs, realised partly through catering to the noon meal centres, has led to the higher market price, the sources told Business Line.

"Export of eggs and egg powder from Tamil Nadu too has helped the layer segment get a satisfactory price at this point. Besides, a daily requirement of 10 lakh eggs for the Erode-based egg powder plant, the egg export consignments, which take away some 10-11 lakh pieces daily from the State, and daily procurement of another 75 lakh eggs for the noon meal scheme have all gone to trim down the availability of egg supplied to the local market," said the sources.

The egg trade sources said with the Durga puja getting over, the consumption of egg was expected to pick up.

Andhra Pradesh too is said to be keen on opening community egg distribution through noon meal centres and in that case, the Tamil Nadu egg trade could witness an impact on egg price over the next few weeks.

Following are the farm-gate price for layer eggs this week in other major egg production centres (as released by the Namakkal zonal committee of the National Egg Coordination Committee:

Chennai Rs.1.58 (per egg); Hyderabad Rs.1.44; Vijayawada Rs.1.43; Mysore Rs.1.47; Bangalore Rs.1.50; Mumbai Rs.1.61; Delhi Rs.1.67 and Kolkatta Rs.1.72.